Lord Timpson’s charity celebrates her and is a role model for reforming prisoners.
But it pays a heavy price when the convicted fraudster is hired as head of finance and human resources by the Prison Reform Trust.
For seven years, Samantha O’Sullivan secretly plundered the charity’s vault and stole £307,000, more than the organizations received in gifts and donations last year.
Incredibly, the 57-year-old’s history of theft is well known and even celebrated in the charity, which prides itself on a “second chance.”
However, she was able to deceive her outstanding board of directors – including former Attorney General David Gauke, former prison and probation pleads commissioner Nigel Newcomen and Lord Timpson, who led the trust before becoming prison minister last year.
Now, the mother of two pleads guilty to the seven-year fraud at Wimbledon magistrate on May 7, her extraordinary deception can be revealed.
O’Sullivan, who previously served as an associate Croydon deputy, was responsible for managing bankruptcy assets in the area, predated the poor and made their attorneys write their attorney to her checks, not her office.
Divorce stole £85,000 from those facing bankruptcy, who had to sell their homes to pay off their debts – and use it to enjoy a luxurious vacation to Cambodia, buy furniture, and buy furniture from friends and family and hand-built cash.
For seven years, Samantha O’Sullivan secretly plundered the charity’s vault and stole £37,000, more than the organizations that received gifts and donations last year
Roundtable discussion at London Probation Headquarters
Her extraordinary deception can be revealed after the mother of the two pleaded guilty to seven years of fraud in Wimbledon District Court on May 7
The 57-year-old’s history of theft is well known and even celebrated in the charity, which prides itself on providing a “second chance”
After being arrested in 2012, O’Sullivan had to sell her £237,000 home to repay the proceeds.
Abigail Penny, who defended at the time, told Croydon Crown Court that her client blamed debts for his drug-drug ex-husband and suffered moderate to severe depression.
But Judge Ruth Downing jailed O’Sullivan for one year in December 2013, citing “an overwhelming position of trust.”
After her release, O’Sullivan received a job in the Prison Reform Trust in 2016 after her conviction was described as a one-time mistake.
But one insider said: “The risk is obvious. Why do you take the convicted fraudsters financially?
According to charitable records, once a month, O’Sullivan meets with Lord Tipsen and the trustees who are responsible for “taking reasonable measures to prevent and detect fraud”.
But until 2024, neither the board nor the independent auditors noticed more and more money.
The charity chose to fund private prosecutors in pursuit of O’Sullivan when action fraud fails to take action.
Yesterday, Trust CEO Pia Sinha said his current senior management team was not involved in O’Sullivan’s appointment and would not hire itself.
The current team has introduced “strong safeguards to ensure this doesn’t happen again”, she said, adding that no plans or services were affected.
