A WOMAN working in a bank's fraud department took £25,000 out of a customer's account, the High Court heard yesterday.
Belfast-based Alina Cepoi claims she transferred funds from the victim's savings under duress from a Romanian drug dealer, a judge was told.
Prosecutors said searches of her home after bosses at the Halifax uncovered the alleged scam also led to the recovery of up to £6,000 worth of cocaine.
The 26-year-old, of Woodstock Road in Belfast, faces charges of fraud by abuse of position and possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply.
Cepoi, a Romanian national, was refused bail amid fears she could re-offend or flee.
The court heard she secured a job within the Lloyds Banking Group after arriving in Northern Ireland in 2014.
She was working with the Halifax's fraud department when she targeted a customer in the north of England between November 25 and December 19 last year.
David McClean, prosecuting, said Cepoi changed details on the victim's account in a bid to get access to the woman's account.
Following an unsuccessful first attempt, £25,000 was taken out and transferred into another account in the name of a friend of the accused, the barrister said.
That money has never been recovered.
The drugs were said to have been seized during searches last month.
Madam Justice McBride was told Cepoi made admissions during police interviews, claiming she was under the influence of her drug dealer.
Defence counsel confirmed his client claims to have acted under duress from the man she previously worked for in Spain.
Cepoi and the friend whose account she allegedly transferred the money into were both "under his spell", the court heard.
The man has links with Romanian gypsies and caused the accused to fear for the safety of her elderly grandmother back in her native country, it was claimed.
Cepoi's situation was said to have escalated quickly after she encountered him again near Belfast City Hall last year.
"She said she was grabbed by the arm... and felt that she was compelled to act," her barrister submitted.
He added: "There had to be quite a lot of effort to get this money out.
"This is a girl who works in the fraud department at Lloyds, this was always going to be uncovered."
Denying bail, however, the judge ruled that Cepoi's connections with Romania and Spain increased the risk of absconding.
