A council worker who stole more than £70,000 of taxpayers’ money to pay off Kenyan scammers has been spared jail.
Amirum Begum, 49, worked in the council’s housing office accountancy department and would record a lower figure for what had been paid by residents in rent and then pocket the difference.
She used this money to pay off scammers after being defrauded in 2021.
Begum, who worked for Portsmouth City Council for 27 years, turned the money into Amazon gift cards to disguise the stolen cash.
Once the council discovered the discrepancy, an investigation began and the police were contacted – leading to Begum losing
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