Dental practice manager stole £35,000 to fill her wardrobe with designer clothes
- Olivia Rutty, 31, stole £35,370 from practice where she worked for 10 years
- She used money to pay for designer clothes and a luxury trip to horse trials
- Colleagues had pay and hours cut by Rutty and lost Christmas bonuses
- She’s been jailed for two years and her husband given suspended sentence
JUNE 2015, Redruth, Cornwall UK
A dental practice manager has been jailed for two years after stealing £35,000 from the business to fund a lavish lifestyle which included buying designer clothes and attending the annual Badminton horse trials.
Olivia Rutty, 31, of Redruth, Cornwall, helped herself to the money so she could attend the five-day event and stay in a luxury hotel nearby, a court heard.
Truro Crown Court was also told that Rutty decorated her home with expensive furniture after stealing £35,370 from Pure Dental Health and Wellbeing in Truro, where she had worked for ten years.
Rutty often bragged to colleagues about weekends away, expensive meals and luxury purchases – and used the stolen money to attend the Badminton horse trials, which takes place every year in May.
The court heard Rutty even convinced her builder husband Nicholas to submit invoices for work which was not carried out or was charged at inflated prices.
She had been promoted to business development manager at the practice, giving her access to the company’s credit card and some control over its finances.
But instead she used the cards for personal purchases and awarded herself unauthorised pay rises and loans.
James Taghdissian, prosecuting, said the company struggled financially because of her crimes.
He said: ‘This was a company which was doing well.
‘There was considerable stress, considerable worry and all of it down to the greed of Mrs Rutty who wanted a lifestyle she was unable to provide.’
Practice manager Sharon Sweet told police Olivia Rutty often boasted about her trips and purchases.
She said: ‘I am horrified Olivia Rutty took either part or all of my and the other team members’ Christmas bonuses.’
Rutty also reduced the working hours of colleagues, claiming the company was struggling.
She reduced her own hours from 38 to 24 but did not cut her own pay as she had for the others.
She pleaded guilty to a total of 28 charges including furnishing false information, namely e-mails to payroll for accounting purposes, and fraud by using a company credit card to pay for goods.
All offences took place between July 2012 and October 2013.
Her husband Nicholas Rutty, 35, also of Redruth, Cornwall, admitted three counts of furnishing false information with a view to making a gain for himself or another.
Joanna Martin, defending Olivia Rutty, said her client had been raised as a Jehovah’s witness but was shunned after leaving the church at 16.
She claimed Rutty felt she ‘had to do well in life’ as a result and the frauds were ‘not simple greed’.
Bathsheba Cassel, defending Nicholas Rutty, said his offending resulted ‘from a desire to protect his emotionally fragile wife and their home life’.
Nicholas Rutty was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.
