A paralegal who stole more than £11,500 from two vulnerable clients has been sentenced to 20 months imprisonment after admitting fraud.
Emma Charlotte Amey, 45, of Poole, Dorset, admitted two counts of fraud by abuse of position at Poole magistrates’ court earlier this year and was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court earlier this month.
Amey was working as a paralegal in the wills and probate department at a law firm in Poole. As part of her work, she managed accounts for clients where the firm held power of attorney and would pay expenses or bills on their behalf using a chequebook or debit card.
An investigation into Amey began after the bank returned a potentially fraudulent cheque to the firm. The firm found the corresponding cheque stub was made out to a care company, but the cheque for £3,400 was addressed to Amey.
When Amey was confronted she admitted to taking money. After the cheques had been signed by another person at the firm, she used an erasable pen to change the payee’s name to her own.She also admitted to using debit cards belonging to the victims to withdraw cash for herself and for online transactions. Between October 2021 and October 2023, Amey stole £11,568 from two victims who were living in residential homes.
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Detective constable Lucy Hale, of Dorset Police’s economic crime unit, said: ‘Emma Amey was entrusted with looking after the day-to-day finances of vulnerable and she abused her position for personal gain making deliberate attempts to avoid detection.
‘We are committed to investigating reports such as this to ensure that fraudsters are held to account for their offending. This type of crime has the potential to impact the public’s confidence in the power of attorney scheme and I am pleased that we were able to restore some trust and make sure that the defendant was brought to justice.’
