Pack House Manager Admits £550,000 Fraud Scheme Using Fake Employees at Scottish Agricultural Supplier
A pack house manager at a major Scottish agricultural supplier has admitted fraudulently obtaining £550,000 by creating fictitious workers and diverting their wages into her personal bank account in a scheme that lasted more than three years.
Viktorija Lukjanova, 36, employed at East Lothian Produce Ltd, fabricated time sheets and invoices for non-existent agency workers, using family members' surnames for some of the bogus employees. The fraud came to light when a manager at the company recognized names on payroll documents as belonging to Lukjanova's relatives.
Background and Context
East Lothian Produce operates as a family-owned vegetable processing, packing and marketing business based near Haddington, supplying customers throughout Europe. The company employs numerous agency workers for its packing operations, a common practice in the agricultural sector where seasonal demand fluctuates significantly.
Lukjanova, originally from Latvia, first joined the company in 2011 and was promoted to pack house manager in 2019, placing her in charge of processing payroll documentation for external agency staff. This position of trust enabled her to manipulate the payment system without immediate detection, according to court proceedings.
Key Figures and Entities
Viktorija Lukjanova, of Ormiston, East Lothian, admitted to the fraud when questioned during a company investigation in January 2024. Court records show she initially denied wrongdoing, claiming the surnames were common in Latvia and that the workers were unrelated to her. However, she later acknowledged using her own bank account to receive payments intended for fictitious staff.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that Lukjanova claimed she shared the stolen money with a colleague, though this person was not identified in proceedings. The company employed external agencies to supply workers, creating multiple layers of documentation that complicated detection of the fraudulent scheme.
Legal and Financial Mechanisms
The fraud scheme operated through the systematic creation of false employment records between January 2, 2021, and February 25, 2024. Lukjanova exploited her position to submit fabricated time sheets and invoices to East Lothian Produce, inducing the company to pay wages for non-existent workers into accounts she controlled.
According to prosecutor Morgan Beattie, the deception unraveled during a fact-finding meeting when management announced plans to check CCTV footage to verify worker attendance. At this point, Lukjanova reportedly stated, "I'm going to jail" before admitting that people had been added to time sheets who never worked at the facility.
The case highlights vulnerabilities in payroll systems that rely on manual processing of agency worker documentation, particularly in industries with high seasonal employment turnover. Financial controls at East Lothian Produce failed to detect discrepancies over the three-year period, allowing the cumulative losses to reach £550,000.
International Implications and Policy Response
While this case appears contained within a single Scottish business, it reflects broader challenges in verifying employment eligibility for foreign workers in UK agriculture. The sector relies heavily on seasonal workers from EU countries, with documentation requirements that can create opportunities for exploitation.
The case may inform discussions around strengthening payroll verification systems and improving oversight of agency labor providers. Scottish authorities have increasingly focused on financial crime in recent years, with Police Scotland establishing specialized units to address fraud and economic crime.
Sources
This report draws on court proceedings at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, corporate records from UK Companies House, and publicly available coverage of the case. Information about East Lothian Produce Ltd's business operations was obtained from the company's public registrations and industry publications.
