A former personal assistant to JK Rowling has been ordered by a court to pay almost £19,000 to JK Rowling, the author of the hit Harry Potter series, after fraudulently using her credit card for personal use back in 2017.
35 year old Amanda Donaldson who resides in Coatbridge in North Lanarkshire, must pay £18,734 back WITH interest as a result of her crimes. (Might I add she was lucky to avoid jail time as people have been sent down for much less in the past). But luckily for her, the author only pursued damages in a civil case at Airdrie Sheriff Court under her married name of Joanne Murray.
Amanda Donaldson
She was subsequently fired in 2017 over the incident. Sheriff Derek O’Carroll found Donaldson used a business credit card of Murray’s to withdraw money and purchase things for her own personal use. She reportedly treated the job as a “blank cheque” and bought a host of luxury items.
Between 2014 and 2017 Donaldson spent £823 at Bibi Bakery, £1482 at Jo Malone, £264 in Boots, £115 in Costa Coffee and £3629 in cosmetic firm Molton Brown. She spent £117 in M&S Simply Food, £2139 in card shop Paper Tiger, £1636 in Starbucks and £235 in book store Waterstones. She also bought two cats worth £1200 and also removed £7,742 of foreign money from a safe.
The sheriff went on to describe Donaldson’s explanations for the missing money as “incredible” and “highly implausible”. “Some of the defender’s evidence was inherently implausible or occasionally quite bizarre.
“For example, her claim that £3,600 on Molton Brown products was all spent on office supplies was quite unbelievable considering that it was the office manager’s job to supply such products and not hers, the annual cost of supplying the office with suitable products was only about £150 per year and she was specifically told by Dr Neil Murray that it was another’s job to buy such products.
“Her explanations as to the large and increasing amounts spent in coffee shops and bakeries was highly unlikely in my view, not least because she had her own well-equipped and stocked office to work in and no regular need to meet anyone in Edinburgh outside her office.
“There was no sound explanation as to why purchases from Boots were mostly unreceipted; that was not a coincidence in my view. She was seen loading large filled Paper Tiger bags into her car during working hours, which allegation though not denied, was never satisfactorily explained.”
Murray also claimed Donaldson had stolen over £3000 in Harry Potter merch (for what reason she needed that much we’ll never know), but this claim was dismissed as there was insufficient evidence to hold her accountable.
