Aberdeen City Council faces scrutiny after a worker embezzled over £1 million, prompting warnings to local authorities across Scotland
Aberdeen: So, there’s been a pretty shocking case in Aberdeen City Council. A guy named Michael Paterson, who worked there, managed to steal over a million pounds!
He was in charge of council tax refunds and somehow set up a sneaky way to funnel money into his own account. Can you believe it? This went on for years, from 2006 to 2023, and he issued 622 refunds totaling £1,087,444.
He finally got caught when a colleague got suspicious and reported it in September 2023. That’s nearly two decades of fraud before anyone noticed!
Paterson ended up getting a four-year prison sentence after pleading guilty. The good news is that the council thinks they can recover all the stolen money, so taxpayers won’t be left hanging.
But here’s the kicker: the Accounts Commission is now warning all of Scotland’s councils to tighten up their fraud controls. They’re saying that Aberdeen’s systems weren’t up to scratch and need better oversight.
They stressed that councils have a responsibility to protect public funds and prevent fraud. It’s all about having solid systems in place and acting on any recommendations from auditors.
Andrew Burns from the Accounts Commission really hit home with his message. He said this should be a wake-up call for all councils. It’s not enough to just have rules; they need to be followed and checked regularly.
And let’s not forget the staff member who blew the whistle. They deserve a shout-out for speaking up and showing how important it is to have good whistleblowing policies in place.
