A Bishop Auckland town councillor who defrauded the NHS and the trade union Unison of more than £80,000 has been jailed.
Tanya Tucker was convicted of seven counts of fraud following a trial at Durham Crown Court last month.
The 58-year-old denied all eight counts, but, following a fortnight-long trial was found guilty by the jury on seven of the eight charges.
The court heard how the 58-year-old, of Walker Drive, Bishop Auckland, defrauded both organisations over a four-year period whilst in positions of trust.
The former Durham County Councillor stood for, and was elected, as a town councillor last September while she was preparing to face the charges at Durham Crown Court.
Investigation
An investigation uncovered that Tucker, as Unison’s Durham branch secretary and treasurer, had claimed identical expenses from both organisations and often forged signatures of colleagues on cheques to herself to make them look plausible.
Two of the offences were committed as an employee of the North of England Commissioning Support Unit (NECS) of the NHS, and six as an official of Unison’s Northern Regional Health Commissioning Branch.
When she was questioned by Unison she claimed a box containing all her receipts and vouchers had gone missing from a cupboard at her office.
She was suspended in November 2018 and dismissed following disciplinary proceedings in October 2019.
Splash out
She went on to splash out the money on a car, restaurant bills, hotel stays, beauty treatments and even used it to pay for her honeymoon.
Despite making a ‘no comment’ interview, Durham Constabulary detectives specialising in fraud left no stone unturned and, having adjourned sentencing to allow preparation of background reports by the Probation Service, Judge James Adkin sentenced Tucker to 28 months in prison.
Fraud Investigator, Detective Constable Ali Blackett, of Durham Constabulary’s Economic Crime Unit said: “Fraud is a despicable crime that can have far-reaching consequences for victims especially for vital organisation such as the NHS.
“Tucker not only abused her position of trust in both organisations but went to great lengths to hide her deceit so it is satisfying to see justice served.”
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
