A woman who stole a quarter of a million pounds continuously lied as she attempted to escape being brought to justice.
Angela Boote was sentenced to three years and four months in jail this week, with ECHO readers sharing their thoughts on the woman who managed to steal a total of £255,854 from her employers who she had worked for since 1994. For a number of years, the Fazakerley based mum redirected money meant for the clients of Liverpool insurance brokers Griffiths and Armour to herself and her family members.
The money was spent on a "lavish lifestyle that consisted of expensive holidays, clothes and jewellery, Liverpool Crown Court heard earlier this week. Suspicions were first raised in September 2020 when Boote was away on holiday. A client complained to the company that a £224 refund that they were due to receive had not entered their account.
READ MORE: Mum spun web of lies to hide £250k theft from colleagues who trusted her
Boote’s manager began to investigate the complaint, finding that the bank details on the payment did not match those provided by the client. She contacted HSBC, the bank through which the transfer was conducted, to find out who the account belonged to and copied Boote into the email.
At this point, Boote returned from leave and contacted HSBC numerous times herself, saying the issue had been resolved. At every turn, she tried to cut her manager out of the exchange, not copying her into the emails.
Yet even then Boote continued to lie, using the explanation that she must have incorrectly entered her daughter’s details because they were written down on a piece of paper next to her and she had planned to send her money from her personal account. At this stage, Boote’s manager reported the issue as a major error and an investigation of Boote’s accounts began.
Eventually, 96 fraudulent payments were discovered and Boote was sacked shortly after. Following the news this week, readers have slammed the crook, with people calling her a "rat".
Wirral123 wrote: "Work and save up like everyone else scruffy family with no morals."
Another user pointed out that there is always a paper trail when dealing with banks. They wrote: "Why do people actually think they'll get away with doing this, a paper trail will always come back to you, every financial transaction involving a bank is recorded."
Scouse1000 simply said: "Vile person."
