Nuala Magee, former boss of children’s charity Together 4 All, appeared in court in Belfast alongside her husband, Declan Shannon, to face charges of misappropriating charity monies to fund her own lavish lifestyle.
Donations to the charity were diverted by Magee to her husband’s bank account, and the monies were used to pay for gambling trips to a greyhound track, expensive holidays, and shopping dashes into the House of Fraser store in Belfast.
The swindle went on undetected for two years, until an audit showed glaring accounting gaps. She resigned from her £80k a year job, and the police were called.
The financial probe was nearly stalled when Magee and her partner in crime fled to Australia, but a judge ordered them to return home to face the law, or have warrants issued for their arrest.
In total, the couple embezzled over €65k.
They will learn their fate in court later this week.