A FINANCE manager has admitted swindling £47,000 from the Westcountry Rivers Trust and the charity which runs libraries in Devon.

Kim Bruce was working as an accountant at the Rivers Trust, which is based at Stoke Climsland, east Cornwall, and as a finance manager at Exeter-based Libraries Unlimited when she stole the money.

Bruce, aged 53, of Ivybridge, admitted five counts of fraud when she appeared at Exeter Crown Court.

The first two offences took place while she was working for the Rivers Trust and involved the theft of sums of £1,908 and £1,663.20 between July 2017 and May 2018.

It was also alleged she stole £4,688.69 from Libraries Unlimited on January 17, 2019; £12,178.53 on March 11 and £26,659.39 on March 25.

All five frauds were carried out by altering bank details to enable unauthorised payments to be made.

The Westcountry Rivers Trust is an ecological organisation that works and campaigns to improve the environment and natural diversity of waterways in Devon and Cornwall.

It was founded in 1994 by poet laureate Ted Hughes and a group of fishermen and ecologists who were united by a passion for improving the quality of the rivers in the region.

Libraries Unlimited is a social enterprise organisation which is dedicated to find innovative ways to use libraries and expand the scope of their services and activities.

Judge David Evans adjourned sentence until March 9 to enable the probation service to prepare a report on Bruce.

He released her on bail but told her: ‘This should give you no false hope. All options, including immediate custody, will be open to the sentencing judge on the day, so please put your affairs in order.’

Hollie Gilbery, defending, said Bruce had repaid £16,000 of the stolen money and final salary payments of £1,500 were withheld by the Rivers Trust and £3,000 from Libraries Unlimited.

Bruce is an accountant who has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of South Africa which her Linkedin page describes as being equivalent to a British qualification from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants or the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Her entry says she is: ‘An experienced finance manager/ head of finance with a history of working in the manufacturing industry, project management finance, management accounting, cost accounting, charity accounting and commercial accounting.

‘Skilled in financial management, operations management, income tax, people management, charity finance and financial accounting. Strong finance professional with good knowledge and experience in project management, change management and strategic financial planning, policies and procedures.

‘Degrees professional (Bcom accounting degree — CIMA and ACCA equivalent) with strong financial management knowledge and experience, good business management knowledge, and strategic business planning.

‘Excellent at working in a team but also able to work alone. Work great under pressure and am good at time management and am deadline driven.’