Julie McBrien: Employee who stole £1.9m ordered to repay victims

A County Tyrone woman who stole almost £1.9m from her employers has been ordered to repay her victims or face a further seven years in prison.

Julie McBrien, 47, of Screeby Road, Fivemiletown, committed 26 counts of fraud and money laundering over an eight-year period.

She was given a five-and-a-half year prison sentence in November 2021.

A proceeds of crime order was granted against her by a judge at Dungannon Crown Court on Monday.

The court was told her confiscated property and assets fell well short of what her victims were owed and that she remained uncooperative.

During her trial it was established McBrien significantly breached the trust of her employers, Cookstown-based Northern Mouldings Limited, owned by Heron Brothers.

She was also given preferential treatment by a company director after falsely claiming to have cancer.

The company said it was the victim of a meticulous and premeditated fraud which resulted in lost orders, redundancies and reduced working hours.

McBrien was in charge of finances but despite enjoying a good salary she filtered cash from the company, bringing it to the verge of collapse.

More than 600 fraudulent transactions were discovered which sustained a luxury lifestyle in her lavish mansion.

This included £360,000 general expenditure, £356,000 property development, £311,000 interior design, £231,000 fashion and beauty and £145,000 on jewellery.

A financial investigator who examined McBrien’s accounts and property informed the court the amount sought by way of compensation was just shy of £1.9m.

He estimated the recoverable amount of assets to be in the region of £673,000, although it was stressed this was an approximation and took into account the equity in McBrien’s house.

The mortgage company is also seeking to recoup its funds.

The investigator said he had requested authorisation from her lawyers for her jewellery to be auctioned but had received no reply.

Judge Brian Sherrard KC ordered her house and assets to be confiscated.

He said while the sum of £1.86m accurately amounted to the victims’ loss, the recoverable amount of £673,000 was the available compensation amount.

The judge concluded: “Payment is to be made by 23 February 2023 and the default period for failure to do so will be seven years imprisonment.”