Nottinghamshire Council accountant jailed for fraud

A former council employee has been jailed for defrauding a local authority of nearly £1 million over two decades.

Alan Doig, 57, used his employment as a senior accountant at Gedling Borough Council in Nottinghamshire to make payments to himself between 2003 and 2022. He stole the money to fund a gambling habit that was out of control.

Doig managed a team of staff with responsibility for payroll and creditor payments, as well as a car loan scheme. Doig used his knowledge of these systems to make illegal payments to himself and successfully avoided scrutiny over many years by altering the Council’s accounts to reduce the risk of being caught.

His fraudulent activities were eventually uncovered when a member of his team noticed irregularities with the car loan scheme and raised concerns with a senior colleague. After he was dismissed from the authority, a more detailed investigation conducted by Nottinghamshire Police revealed the extent of his offending and uncovered fraudulent payments totalling £934,343.30. Doig was charged with one count of obtaining a money transfer by deception and one count of fraud. He pleaded guilty at a hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on the 12th September 2024 and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment.

Mark Kennedy from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “As an employee of a local authority, there was a great deal of trust placed in Alan Doig. Instead of safeguarding the interests of the public, he chose to act in his own interests and fuel his gambling habit at the expense of his employer and community.

“Doig knew the systems at his workplace and avoided detection over many years. However, once his crimes were detected, there was a clear trail leading to every fraudulent transaction he made. In the face of this overwhelming evidence, he has admitted the full extent of his offending and has today been held to account for his actions.”

Following Doig’s conviction and sentence, the CPS has initiated proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act so the courts can can confiscate any financial assets he has left to repay the money he has stolen.