Museum worker in £14,000 eBay stamp fraud

A WORKER at the National Museum of Scotland discovered a lucrative new form of ‘stamp collecting’.

But it was an eBay scam in which he pretended to the Royal Mail that he was ordering batches of stamps for his employer, but sold them on the internet site for less than face value and pocketed the cash.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday, Joseph McGuire, 46, admitted obtaining stamps valued at £14,458 by fraud between January 1, 2011, and August 1, 2013.

Fiscal depute Aidan Higgins told Sheriff Fiona Reith, QC, that McGuire, of Edinburgh, had worked as a messenger at the museum for 15 years and had unrestricted access to the mail room and a franking machine.

He said that in May 2013 officers of the Royal Mail Criminal Intelligence team discovered that large numbers of books of stamps were being sold on eBay. Investigations revealed the user account related to McGuire’s wife.

Mr Higgins added: ‘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.’

A sheet of 100 first-class stamps was found in McGuire’s locker, along with invoices relating to the stamps. When police searched his home, they recovered £11,625 in cash, Royal Mail packages and invoices, and 2,769 first-class stamps, valued at £1,661.

Defence solicitor Jonathan Campbell said it was unclear why McGuire embarked on the scam. But, along with some other employees, he had been the subject of a dis- ciplinary procedure because of ‘postings on social media about fellow employees and a member of the management team’ and received a final warning in January 2011.

Mr Campbell added: ‘He felt he had been treated unfairly by his employers.’

Sheriff Reith asked: ‘This was something like trying to get revenge?’ Mr Campbell replied: ‘His justification was that he had been unfairly treated, having been a valued employee with long years of service.’

Deferring sentence until September for a background report, Sheriff Reith warned McGuire that all options were open.