Kirsty Payne, 44, a chartered accountant, was jailed for 18 months after admitting she fraudulently took £40,383 from her employer to fund a skiing holiday in the French Alps
A certified accountant who swindled her employer out of more than £40,000 to fund a skiing holiday in the French Alps has been sentenced to 18 months behind bars.
Kirsty Payne, 44, was employed at commercial vehicle dealers Marshall Thermo King, trading as Marshall Fleet Solutions, based in Cambridge.
Cambridgeshire Police reported that in February 2025, Payne processed a payment of £400,410 from various suppliers through the system, which was £40,383 more than it should have been. Investigations, initiated after the discrepancy was noticed last April, revealed the surplus money had been transferred into an account belonging to one of Payne’s relatives.
Payne had been off work due to a doctor’s note issued on March 30, citing deteriorating mental health.
During a welfare check with the company’s head of HR, she confessed to deceitfully taking the money from the business and subsequently resigned from the firm, according to Cambridgeshire Police.
The force stated that she initially claimed the money was for a relative’s medical treatment but later admitted in a police interview that it was actually used for a skiing trip to the French Alps.
Despite earning around £80,000 a year, Payne, who had a prior conviction for fraud by false representation, said she was experiencing financial difficulties, the police added.
She pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation at a previous hearing at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court, the force confirmed.
Cambridgeshire Police said Payne, of Taverners Drive, Ramsey, was sentenced to one year and six months at Peterborough Crown Court on September 10.
She received 10 months behind bars for the fraud charge, but the extended overall term came about because she had violated a suspended sentence connected to a previous offence of the same type, officers said.
Detective Constable Valentin Radulescu, who led the investigation, said: “Payne gave little thought to the impact of defrauding her employer out of tens of thousands of pounds.
“By committing fraud for a second time she showed she had not learned her lesson, and this was looked on negatively by the courts, who imposed a custodial sentence which she had initially avoided.
“I hope her time behind bars allows her to reflect on her actions and hopefully, this case also serves as a warning to anyone else hoping to turn a profit through deception.”
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