Jailed for stealing £92,000 from Credit Union customers

Geraldine O’Kane, of Birren Road, Dungiven, pleaded guilty to 14 charges of theft and one charge of fraud.

The offences were committed between February 2013 and April 2015.

At this time the 47-year-old was employed as assistant manager of Dungiven Credit Union.

Derry Crown Court heard O’Kane stole a total of £92,000 from accounts which she considered to be dormant.

A full investigation was launched after confessed the thefts to one of the victims.

The credit union has reimbursed all the customers.

Passing sentence, Judge Gordon Kerr QC said this case involved a ‘breach of trust and very serious offending which ordinarily carries with it an immediate custodial sentence’.

He said O’Kane had used her rank to monitor accounts which could be susceptible to theft.

The judge told the court the defendant is entitled to maximum credit because the offences were only investigated because of her admissions.

However, he said an aggravating feature of the case is that credit unions are a ‘public resource in which the public place their trust. Offences such as these must have an effect on that trust’.