Karen Belton stole stamps and printer cartridges worth £228,000 ($285,295/ €254,300) from her office over six years and is now facing more jail time.
As Belfast Live reports, Karen Boltan used her work laptop to sell the stolen goods on eBay under the seller name of ‘Merlin’ for more than six years. When she finally got caught, she was sentenced to 20 months in prison last November, and ordered to pay back £36,618.50 ($45,814/ €45,814) within a year or face further jail time.
Belton was managing the office between 2009 and 2015 and was the one that ordered and approved all orders. When the company moved two years later in 2017, Belfast Live says, “, a review revealed “unusually” large amounts of money had been spent on printer cartridges and postage stamps during her time at the company.”
This led the company to contact Cheshire police who in their investigation discovered the eBay seller account in the name of Merlin under which Belton has been selling stamps and printer cartridges.
Belfast Live reports that speaking at the time, Detective Constable Carl Davis said: “The audacity and arrogance of Belton is quite simply unbelievable.”
Davis added: “She stole stamps and printer cartridges on an industrial scale and even had the nerve to operate her eBay account from her work laptop during work hours. She had a number clients that she dealt with on a regular basis, purchasing stamps and cartridges through her work account after receiving their orders through eBay. In total we estimate that Belton stole approximately £200,000 worth of goods during her time at the company, with one client paying £159,479 into her account. Thankfully, as a result of the routine audit and a thorough investigation from Cheshire Police, Belton is now facing the consequences of her actions.”
