Manchester City executive who stole £100,000 from club to pay for gifts and her wedding only has to pay back £2,500
A FORMER Manchester City executive who stole more than £104,000 from the club to pay for her wedding only has to pay back £2,550.
Fiona Barclay, 34, worked as a business development manager within the Premier League champions’ hospitality department, earning up to £30,000 a year.
The mum-of-one was jailed in November last year for fraud after swindling huge sums from Manchester City to fund her big day and buy lavish gifts for her husband and family.
Yet she has now been ordered to pay back just £2,500 at a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing.
She was told the news when appearing via video-link from her native Falkirk in Scotland.
The hearing began with Barclay being asked whether she was alone, before telling the judge she had her seven-week-old baby beside her.
Judge Timothy Smith ruled: “In light of everything uploaded, the benefit figure is £104,934.16, arising out of general criminal conduct. The available amount is £2,550.
“This must be paid back by October 6.”
When she was jailed, Manchester crown court heard how Barclay was first rumbled in March last year after accountants flagged a suspicious £25,000 refund.
When questioned by bosses she claimed she’d transferred £15,000 of the sum into her own bank account “in error”.
But following an investigation, the club discovered Barclay had been stealing from them since June 2019 – more than £104,000 overall.
She pleaded guilty to an offence of fraud by abuse of position and was sacked by the Etihad Stadium side in March 2021.
Her barrister Patrick Buckley described Barclay as “utterly disgusted with herself”, adding: “There is nothing in terms of reason or logical reason why she did what she did.”
She spent less than half of her 18-month sentence in prison, with the rest to be served on licence.
The latest court hearing was told she had found a new job with a travel firm and informed them about her conviction, while also trying in vain to arrange with City for repayment of the money owed.
When jailing her for 18 months, Manchester crown court recorder Ciaran Rankin had said: “This is a tragedy – you have thrown so much away because of your dishonesty and, I’m afraid, pure greed.”
On the pitch, City won an historic treble this past season – claiming the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League trophies.