A TULLIBODY woman has been warned she could be sent to prison after she admitted embezzling £75,000 from her employers in Alloa.

Karen Humphries manipulated the books at the firm for more than three years, allowing her husband to be significantly overpaid.

Her job included paying financial sales advisors working for mortgage and investment brokers Solicitors Financial Services (SFS), based on Whins Road.

The task included doling out and recording the commission due to members of the freelance sales team, which included her husband John, 50.

In July 2016 the company's annual accounts – which was expected to show a healthy profit – suddenly swung into loss, and auditors were called in.

Checks showed that between February 2013 and July 2016, Humphries had overpaid her partner by a total of £75,000.

She was confronted and resigned, and police were called in.

Humphries was later arrested at her home in McAlpine Court and taken to Falkirk Police Station.

When told that overpayments had been found, she replied after caution: "That would be correct."

At Stirling Sheriff Court last week, Humphries, 47, pleaded guilty to embezzling the money following "long and complicated negotiations" between her legal team and prosecutors.

She had originally been charged with embezzling in excess of £106,000, but her guilty plea to the smaller sum had been accepted by the Crown.

John Humphries, who had been jointly charged with his wife, walked free from court after his not guilty plea was accepted.

Fiscal depute Ruaraidh Ferguson told the court: "The offence was discovered as a result of the annual accounts being checked in July 2016. Despite SFS expecting to have generated a profit, the accounts showed a loss and an investigation was launched.

"It revealed that one financial advisor had been significantly overpaid. This was John Humphries, the husband of the accused.

"He was the only financial advisor to be overpaid."

Sentence was deferred for reports until October 10, and Humphries was warned that, despite being bailed, she could yet face time in prison.

Sheriff Wyllie Robertson told her: "This offence involved an inherent breach of trust, and a custodial sentence is at the forefront of the court's considerations."

The plea triggered a parallel civil action under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Humphries wept as she was was served with papers under the Act alleging even greater financial irregularities.

The Crown is seeking a confiscation order for more than £500,000 allegedly ill-gotten by Humphries, who had worked for Solicitors' Financial Servies for 13 years.

Mr Ferguson, prosecuting, said SFS used another firm, financial technology organisation True Potential LLP, or "TP", to receive clients' payments, which TP then passed on to SFS having calculated "to the penny" how much commission was due to each financial advisor.

He added that a further analysis of transactions completed by Humphries showed money being transferred from SFS to a number of accounts, some in her name, some in her husband's name, some held jointly. Some payments were split between various accounts.

Sheriff Robertson said: "The astonishing thing to me is that having agreed the embezzlement – in this case of £75,000 – the [Crown] statement says that the recoverable amount is over half a million pounds."

Mr Ferguson replied: "The recoverable amount relates to funds that the Crown allege comes from general criminal conduct."

Defence solicitor David Kinloch will address the court in mitigation at the sentencing hearing.

The Proceedings of Crime action was continued until November 12 for Humphries' legal team to prepare rebuttals to the Crown's allegations that her criminal conducted netted such a large sum.