A woman who worked at a private school in Ireland took €500,000 ($566,732) over the course of five years to fund her gambling addiction. Mary Higgins has since sold her house and given her pension to Mount Sackville Secondary School in Dublin to repay her debts.
The 62-year-old woman was a former pupil and had worked there for 24 years before her deception came to light in March 2017. The majority of the money has since been repaid.
she was the main signatory for the school’s bank accounts
Talking about her crimes, Higgins explained that she was always hoping to win big to get her out of the hole, something which never happened. She was able to get away with her theft for so long because she was the main signatory for the school’s bank accounts and looked after deposits.
Eventually, another employee discovered that Higgins occasionally rewrote ledgers for individual pupils and that the general accounts were always outdated.
The principal was informed and they decided to appoint an auditor to get to the bottom of the issue. Higgins came clean, and as an accountant couldn’t identify the exact sum of money she took, the school relied on her own admission to come to the €500,000 total.
Judge Orla Crewe will hand down her sentence on June 19.
