Theater Finance Manager Stole $1.1m to Feed Gambling Habit, Blamed Dark Web Attack

The finance manager for a big theater in Leicester, England stole £868,800 ($1.1m) from her employer to feed her gambling addiction and will now spend nearly five years in prison for her crimes. Karen McGowan initially tried blaming the stolen money on a dark web attack and pointed the finger at coworkers when the authorities linked her to the embezzlement.

her husband’s bank eventually alerted the theater about suspicious transactions

The 50-year-old began working at the Curve Theatre’s finance team in October 2014 before making it to the head of finance role in February 2019. Two months after the promotion, her husband’s bank alerted the theater about suspicious transactions. After an investigation, they discovered 104 payments into his account from the charity-dependent Curve over a 17-month period.

Co-workers described how McGowan would work long days and not let other people look too closely at accounts to try to hide the fraud. Her legal counsel said that she developed a gambling addiction after buying scratch cards to try to win it big and ease financial pressures.

Following numerous delays in the case due to the pandemic McGowan pleaded guilty to money laundering and fraud by abuse of position. She received a four-year, ten-month prison term last week, and her husband received a suspended sentence for his role in the deception.

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