Donegal woman facing 25 fraud charges of over £1m to face September trial in Derry

A trial date of next September has been provisionally fixed for a Donegal woman facing 25 fraud charges totalling over £1 million at Derry Crown Court.

The court heard that the trial is expected to last between two to three weeks. The defendant, Wendy Macbean (62) from Railway Park in St Johnston, is charged with one offence of cheating the public revenue of £252,341 and with nine charges of fraud by false representation to make a gain for herself or to cause loss to HMRC totalling £1,010,368.

She's also charged with nine charges of transferring criminal property from the Foyle Youth And Community Association to her own account, totalling £69,000 and she's additionally charged with six offences of forgery.

The defendant, who was the recipient of a civic award for her cross-community charity work, is alleged to have committed the 25 offences on dates between October 2017 and May 2020 when she worked for the FYACA.

Defence barrister Ian Turkington KC told Judge Roseanne McCormick KC that his client had made it clear that she wanted a trial date and said she was ‘anxious’ for the case to move forward ‘sooner rather than later’.

The barrister said he had arranged another consultation with the defendant for Monday of next week. He said the case involved the preparation of expert reports and forensic accountancy reports.

A barrister for the Public Prosecution Service told Judge McCormick that they too were anxious to fix a trial date "as soon as possible for a case which has been going on for some time".

She said the case would involve both professional and civilian witnesses. Judge McCormick said the matter could be reviewed next Monday, and she fixed a provisional trial date for next September.