A FRAUDSTER who stole more than £55,000 from tech giants Panasonic has been told she will not serve time behind bars.

Lisa Garland, of Lochinver, Bracknell, handed a suspended prison sentence at Reading Crown Court last week despite stealing thousands of pounds from her employers.

Instead of jail time, she will be forced to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and be made to serve a home curfew.

The 42-year-old, who was due to be sentenced in April until her hearing was postponed, learnt her fate on Friday, May 28.

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In the original hearing, the court heard how Garland embezzled £56,585 from Panasonic over a period of two years between 2017 and 2019.

She worked as a customer services supervisor at the tech company after being hired in March 2017.

Panasonics HQ in Western Road. Picture: Google Maps

Panasonic's HQ in Western Road. Picture: Google Maps

From December 2017 to December 2019, she defrauded her employers by offering ‘refunds’ to family and friends who complained about Panasonic items.

Her actions came to light when Garland, who was in charge of a Panasonic voucher scheme, reported some vouchers had gone missing.

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This caused investigations to start and eventually resulted in police trawling through her bank account matching payments to the electrical goods which were sent out.

Speaking in April, prosecutor Robin Sellers said: “It was a rather sophisticated manipulation of the customer services system.”

Whilst employed by the tech company, Garland stole almost £800 from a charity her colleagues had raised funds for.

The 42-year-old had been taking part in an event to raise money for the Wear It Pink charity.

Reading Crown Court.

Reading Crown Court.

But the money raised by the company’s employees did not find its way to the charity.

It was discovered in Garland’s possession after the charity emailed Panasonic saying they had not received the funds.

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Back in April, Judge Heather Norton suggested Garland was “vulnerable” and defrauded Panasonic in order to “pay off a long-standing drug debt.”

But she also said the Bracknell woman portrayed herself as an “intelligent and responsible person”.

Sentencing on Friday, the same Judge sentenced her to two years and four years in prison suspended for 18 months for the counts of fraud and theft.

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