Woman guilty of £200k charity fraud jailed

An accountant convicted of defrauding a charity out of £200,000 has been jailed for three years and nine months.

Geraldine Coates, 60, of Kings Road in Honiton, Devon, siphoned off the money over a nine-year period while was treasurer of the Honiton and District Agricultural Association in Devon.

Exeter Crown Court heard her paid role between 1996 and 2018 was to manage the accounts by paying bills, oversee invoices and chase payments, with the offences relating to the period 2009 to 2018.

Concerns were raised when suppliers were contacted and confirmed they had never received payments they were owed, jurors were told. The judge said Coates was given "a trust you abused beyond belief".

The court heard she forged signatures and made it appear she paid marquee companies for work which was not required as she used some of the money to pay off her own credit card bills and bought blinds and curtains.

Prosecutor Alistair Heggarty said it was a "systematic fraud" against the charity which donated money to local agricultural and educational causes.

"She took advantage of that trust over nine years to siphon funds for her own personal benefit," he said.

The court heard Coates, who also had her own accountancy and bookkeeping business in Honiton, was able to bypass limited checks and balances to commit the prolonged fraud which only came to light after a hacking incident.

Senior officials of the Honiton and District Agricultural Association told the court her "despicable actions and betrayal of trust" had caused them "professional, personal and mental anguish", as well as reputational damage.

Judge Stephen Climie said it was "a trust you abused beyond belief" and that she "siphoned substantial quantities of cash for your own benefit".

After the sentencing, Det Con Alan Findlay, of the Devon and Cornwall Police fraud triage and support team, said the charity's trust had been betrayed "by someone they knew well".

He said: "The agricultural association promotes agricultural and educational causes and Coates defrauded the charity out of vital funds that could have been used to benefit others, spending the money on her own needs and wants.

"Coates took active steps to try and cover her offending and at no point did she have the courage to admit what she did - even taking the matter to trial despite the strong financial evidence against her."

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