An investigation found sizeable amounts of cash transferred into private bank accounts

A charity worker embezzled £35,000 to pay off mounting debts, a court has heard.

Carole Ferguson, 60, who was employed as a financial officer with the Citizens Advice Bureau in Musselburgh, admitted she transferred thousands of pounds from the organisation’s bank account into her own.

Ferguson had used “false expenses” to cover up the fraud, transferring a total of £35,000 into her own bank account and one belonging to her partner over a four-year period.

Financial discrepancies were subsequently noticed by an employee and an internal investigation was carried out by the charity in November 2020.

Ferguson, of Prestonpans, admitted taking the money due to debts.

Her lawyer Mary Moultrie said that her client suffered from a number of health difficulties and had sold her house in March 2023 to fully repay the stolen funds to the charity.

Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss granted Ferguson bail during a hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and deferred sentence to next month for background reports to be prepared.