Fraudster celebrated as model reformed convict steals £307,000 after being handed job as head of HR and finance by Labour prisons minister

She was celebrated by Lord Timpson’s charity as the very model of a reformed prisoner.

But when the convicted fraudster was employed by the Prison Reform Trust as head of finance and human resources, it paid a heavy price.

For seven years, Samantha O’Sullivan secretly plundered the charity’s coffers, stealing £307,000, which is more than the organisation received in gifts and donations last year.

Incredibly, the 57-year-old’s history of theft was well-known and even celebrated at the charity, which prides itself on offering ‘second chances’.

Yet she was able to fool its illustrious board of trustees – which included former justice secretary David Gauke, former Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Nigel Newcomen, and Lord Timpson, who led the trust over the period prior to becoming Prisons Minister last year. 

Now after the mother-of-two pleaded guilty to the seven-year fraud on May 7 at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court, her extraordinary deception can be revealed.   

In her previous role as deputy official receiver of Croydon, responsible for managing bankruptcy assets in the region, O’Sullivan preyed on the destitute, conning their solicitors into writing cheques payable to her instead of her office.

The divorcee stole £85,000 from those facing bankruptcy who had to sell their homes to pay their debt – and used it to enjoy a lavish holiday to Cambodia, buy home furnishings and hand bundles of cash to friends and family.

For seven years, Samantha O’Sullivan secretly plundered the charity’s coffers, stealing £307,000, which is more than the organisation received in gifts and donations last year

Lord James Timpson, minister of state for prisons, parole and probation, at a roundtable discussion at London Probation Headquarters

After the mother-of-two pleaded guilty to the seven-year fraud on May 7 at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court, her extraordinary deception can be revealed

After she was caught in 2012, O’Sullivan had to sell her £237,000 home to pay back the proceeds.

Abigail Penny, defending at the time, told Croydon Crown Court her client had been saddled with debt by a drug-addicted ex-husband, and was suffering moderate to severe depression.

But Judge Ruth Downing jailed O’Sullivan for a year in December 2013, citing ‘an overwhelming abuse of a position of trust’.

Following her release, O’Sullivan secured a job at the Prison Reform Trust in 2016 after her conviction was portrayed as a one-off mistake. 

But one insider said: ‘The risk was obvious. Why would you put a convicted fraudster in charge of finances?’

Once a month, O’Sullivan met Lord Timpson and trustees, who were responsible for ‘taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud’, according to charity records.

But the mounting missing money went unnoticed by the board and independent auditors until 2024.

The charity opted to pursue O’Sullivan by funding a private prosecution when Action Fraud failed to act.

Yesterday, Pia Sinha, the trust’s chief executive, said its current senior management team had not been involved in O’Sullivan’s appointment and would not have hired her themselves.

She said the current team had introduced ‘robust safeguards to ensure this cannot happen again’, adding that no programmes or services had been affected.