The finance manager of a struggling charity that helps vulnerable people has been jailed for four and a half years after stealing more than £170,000 in an elaborate swindle.

Rushna Choudhury, 46, of Gravesend, was a trusted employee of the Social Interest Group at their headquarters in Islington, but used bogus invoices to siphon money for herself between 2016 and 2017.

Blackfriars Crown Court heard she claimed she would kill herself in prison, but Judge Alexander Milne QC dismissed this, telling her: “You are somebody who seeks to manipulate the system.”

“You were employed in a position of responsibility and the fraud was sophisticated, involved substitution of invoices, transfers to your bank account and once to your son’s bank in a way that left a trail that covered yourself.

“You also used the log-ins of your colleagues to protect yourself. You did it to enrich yourself.

“By your actions you poisoned the atmosphere in the organisation and are responsible for the deputy chief executive ending his employment because he felt responsible that under his watch you had been stealing from a charity that helped those in need.”

Choudhury, of Singlewell Road, Gravesend, initially fought the charge and jumped bail, but eventually pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position.

When police forced their way into her home - where she stashed designer label clothing and expensive accessories - Choudhury was said to be cowering in her garden shed, claiming she had taken an overdose of pills.

The charity says they have lost £303,741 due to her actions - including investigation costs and hiring staff to cover those suspended during the internal probe.

“You were employed in a position of responsibility and the fraud was sophisticated, involved substitution of invoices, transfers to your bank account and once to your son’s bank in a way that left a trail that covered yourself..." - Rushna Choudhury

Choudhury received three years for the fraud, plus 18 months for breaching a suspended prison sentence she got for taking £77,750 from a housing organisation she worked for in 2013.

On Tuesday, the judge added: “You should not have been trusted ever again with other people’s money.

"You defrauded a previous employer and the sentence you received was lenient and you went out very rapidly and began doing the same thing again.”

Prosecutor Alex Krikler said Choudhury made 24 transfers from the charity, which is an umbrella organisation for other groups assisting those with mental health problems, substance abuse issues, plus ex-offenders, the homeless, poor, aged and disabled.

A colleague suspected the swindle, which involved doctored invoices from regular suppliers, with money even paid into an account Choudhury was using to repay a court order for the earlier fraud.

“She reset other staff members’ passwords and used them to access the system so it would look like others had entered the details on the system,” added Mr Krikler.

The suspicious colleague quit and later told police: “The incident made me feel physically ill and uncomfortable in my place of work.

"Rushna had no problem ripping-off an organisation clearly there to help other people.”

The charity had a £700,000 trading loss during the tax year Choudhury worked there, but managed to recoup £189,000 via insurance.

Her lawyer Susan Wright said the pressure of having to repay the first fraud overwhelmed Choudhury.

“The reality of having to pay that money back and no means even though given a second chance meant she became increasingly panicked and saw the only way out was to do what she did before.”

Read more: All the latest news from Gravesend