Man admits 14K stamp fraud at National Museum of Scotland

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An Edinburgh man has pleaded guilty to defrauding his workplace of more than £14,000 in postage stamps.

Joseph McGuire, 46, from Edinburgh, used a franking machine at the National Museum of Scotland to order stamps, which he sold online.

The fraud emerged when the Royal Mail Criminal Intelligence unit discovered large numbers of books of stamps were being sold cut-price on the internet.

McGuire carried out the fraud between 1 January 2011 and 1 August 2013.

Sentence was deferred until September for background reports.
Franking machine

The museum messenger had unrestricted access to the mail room of the NMS.

He used the franking machine to order huge quantities of stamps from the Royal Mail, far in excess of what the museum needed.

For more than two years he sold the stamps at a reduced price on ebay because he felt unfairly treated by his employer, his lawyer said.

McGuire pleaded guilty to obtaining stamps valued at £14,458 by fraud.

Fiscal Depute Aidan Higgins, prosecuting, said: "There was clear evidence the accused had been involved in the ordering of very large quantities of stamps from the Royal Mail to be delivered to the National Museum of Scotland, far in excess of the postage requirements of the National Museum."

Search warrants were granted and a sheet of 100 first class stamps was found in his locker at the museum along with invoices relating to the order and delivery of the stamps.

When his home was searched police recovered £11,625 along with various Royal Mail packages and invoices. A total of 2,769 first class stamps, valued at £1,661, were also recovered.

Jonathan Campbell, defence solicitor, said: "He was enticing people to buy them because they were cheaper than if they bought them from the Royal Mail or a Post Office.

"Using the franking machine he was able to pay the Royal Mail at the expense of the National Museum. The only organisation losing out was the National Museum".

Mr Campbell said there was "no satisfactory explanation or justification" for why his client had embarked on the scheme.

The lawyer said the money had not been used for a lavish lifestyle and McGuire "was almost relieved when the offence was discovered".

Sheriff Reith told McGuire: "This was really a quite sophisticated crime."

He warned him that all options were open when he passed sentence.