Bookkeeper who defrauded boss ordered to pay back over £250k
A former bookkeeper who stole from the company she worked for has been ordered to repay over £250k.
Over the course of nearly 12 years, Deborah Thorlby-Hall stole over £1.4m from the company she worked for, regularly using her position to transfer funds to her personal bank account and created false invoices to give the impression the transfers were legitimate.
Now the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division has secured a Confiscation Order of over £250,000 and will seek to have the funds returned to the victim.
Living far beyond her means, she spent over £28,000 on Amazon, £27,000 on the national and postcode lotteries and £87,000 at Next, as well as other high value purchases, including a Harley Davidson.
She was convicted of fraud offences in October 2024 and sentenced to six years imprisonment.
The CPS Proceeds of Crime Division has worked closely with Derbyshire Constabulary to identify over £250k of assets that are available and can be liquidated to give compensation back to the victim, ensuring that Deborah Thorlby-Hall’s crimes do not pay.
Luke Clements of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Deborah Thorlby-Hall started stealing from her employer in 2008 and continued her crimes for over a decade.
“She abused her position and worked hard to ensure she wasn’t discovered, while frittering away the stolen money on holidays, luxury vehicles, and gambling.
“Today we have ensured that she cannot continue to benefit from her crimes and that all her available assets can be rightly returned to the victim.”
Nodiadau i olygyddion
- Deborah Thorlby-Hall, 54, formerly of Dunstan Crescent, Worksop was convicted of fraud by abuse of position and false accounting in October 2024 at Derby Crown Court. She was sentenced to six years in prison and banned from acting as a company director for 10 years.
- She was given a Confiscation Order totalling £256,805.33 at Derby Crown Court (27 April 2026) she will have 3 months to pay back the money, or she could face more prison time. The entirety of this money will be returned to the victim.
- Where a defendant refuses to pay their Confiscation Order in a timely way, CPS Proceeds of Crime Division can invite the court to impose an additional default sentence on them of up to 14 years' imprisonment. The full debt continues to be in force until it is paid, and interest is charged against it at the civil judgement debt rate, currently 8%.
- The CPS Proceeds of Crime Division has in the last five years, recovered £478 million from obtained Confiscation Orders, ensuring that thousands of convicted criminals cannot profit from their offending. £95 million of that amount has been returned to victims of crime, by way of compensation.
- Luke Clements is a Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division