Worker faked invoices to steal £1m from council

Fraudster Mark Conway told the High Court in Edinburgh that he first diverted public money to his own accounts in August 2009 after running up debts on gambling websites.

But Conway, 52, also admitted to carrying on defrauding the council up until May last year, embezzling a total of £1,065,085.

Only £7,337 of the money has been recovered.

The court was told Conway made entries in the local authority’s computer system pretending to represent sums due to genuine suppliers to the council, but had the money paid into his bank and building society accounts.

Conway went on to make further entries which were paid by council officials to his Nationwide account.

Officials believed they were making legitimate payments as the scam went undetected by normal audit procedures.

But, on May 25 last year, Conway created a Scottish Fuels invoice with his Santander bank account details.

The same day, the council’s head of customer service and IT, Gregory Colgan, was made aware of the discrepancy.

Senior officials then decided to suspend Conway on full pay.

The advocate depute said auditors were called in to identify how funds had been diverted to Conway’s accounts.

Conway, of Brechin, was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow on 24 August.

A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “The council is aware of the plea that has been tendered in this case.

“This individual is no longer employed by Dundee City Council.

“We will be issuing a statement when legal proceedings have concluded.”