A man responsible for defrauding his workplace of more than £14,000 has been jailed.
At the Sheriff Court in Edinburgh, Joseph McGuire was today sentenced to 12 months in prison for the unauthorised ordering of large quantities of postage stamps, which he then sold on for profit.
The 46-year-old used the franking machine at the National Museum of Scotland, where he worked as a messenger to order the stamps before advertising them for sale online.
Mr McGuire’s activities were discovered when the Royal Mail Investigation Unit discovered that stamps were being sold on e-Bay for a discounted rate and contacted Police Scotland.
As a result of inquiries conducted by the Economic Crime Unit, McGuire was arrested and charged before being convicted last month.
Detective Inspector Arron Clinkscales from Police Scotland’s Organised Crime Unit said: “Joseph McGuire misappropriated public funds belonging to the National Museum of Scotland for his own profit and was able to defraud the organisation of £14,458.
“We are committed to working alongside our relevant partners agencies to make sure public monies are not used for illegal gain and whenever we receive information alleging fraudulent activity of this nature we will conduct a full and thorough investigation to bring those responsible to justice.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
