A LOAN collector who defrauded almost £30,000 from her employers has been ordered to carry out 300 hours of community service.
Marie Smith, 39, was paid to sell high-interest loans to people on low incomes but set up fake loan agreements in false names.
She was caught after she failed to keep up the repayments and later claimed she used the money to buy special equipment
for her disabled son.
Smith had previously pleaded guilty to obtaining £29,300 by fraud and has been on bail until sentencing.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was today told she had sold her house to pay back most of the money but still had £13,000 outstanding.
Sheriff Andrew Lothian told her he would not be sending her to prison after a doctor raised concerns about the effect it would have on her child.
"Undoubtedly it's a very big and serious fraud, however you did plead guilty to it and you have made some repayment," said the sheriff.
"The most significant matter is the view that it would be profoundly damaging for your young child if you were taken into custody."
He added: "The question of repayment is between you and people you defrauded."
Smith, who has a previous conviction for shoplifting, carried out the fraud while working as a collection agent for Midlothian-based finance company Wilson Tupholme between November 2005 and 2006.
She had sold her home in Fraser Avenue, Edinburgh, to pay back some of the money she owed and was now living in Bridgeton, Glasgow, the court heard.
