Katherine Greenall, 29, spent a whopping £300,000 on TikTok tokens which she went on to gift to her favourite creators after she stole it from a St Helens business
A mum was left crying after her “TikTok addiction” sent her to prison. Katherine Greenall, 29, wiped away tears as she was sentenced to 28 months behind bars after stealing an estimated half-a-million pounds from her employer while she worked as an account manager for the car company.
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Friday how Greenall started working for the St Helens-based New Reg Ltd as a services manager in April 2021. Greenall, of Gloucester Street in the same town, was then promoted to accounts manager in December of the following year – which gave her access to business bank accounts.
Prosecutor Christopher Taylor detailed how she had been considered as a “vital part of the company’s growth”, “very organised and capable” and both “trusted and respected”, but committed a “significant abuse of trust” in manipulating financial reports that enabled her to siphon off funds into her own accounts.
An analysis of her bank statements found during 2023Greenall received a total 53 unauthorised deposits totalling £57,036 from her employer. The same period also saw a “change in her expenditure”, including numerous purchases from supermarkets, food outlets, Amazon Prime and sports retailers.
The mum also splashed out on family holidays and hotel bookings as well as using stolen cash to pay for a family solicitor. Greenall’s criminality went on to accelerate in the early months of 2024. In January that year, she made further four deposits to the tune of £8,917, followed by 10 more in February amounting to £14,916.
She went on to pocket a staggering £146,288 in 20 separate payments, which were dwarfed by another 31 transactions in April 2024, giving a £196,364 boost to her bank account. Missing sums of money started to raise suspicions among senior managers. Smaller than expected profits were raised with Greenall during an internal investigation on May 1.
She pledged to investigate the matter before returning to her desk and made a “final deposit” of £20,000 into her account, citing a false family illness. Greenall would admit her criminality in another meeting on May 7 and she went on to be arrested on May 13.
She claimed the deposits “started small” and that they were used to fund “household purchases.” But se later admitted the money had been used to fund TikTok payments, gifting tokens to content creators on the platform.
Greenall ultimately swindled a total of £443,523 from the company in 121 separate transactions. She went to spend £301,162 on TikTok tokens with the proceeds being shared between the social media platform and the content creators who got the coins between February 2024 and April 2025, Liverpoo Echo reports.
Greenall had no previous convictions. Paul Becker, defending, told the court that his client “may have been suffering from a form of addiction to TikTok”, but stated that she had “no formal diagnosis to such an addiction”.
It is believed her two children, a six-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy with severe ADHD, will be looked after by her sister, a nursery care worker, in her absence. Mr Becker said: “This is fraud on a massive scale. It started out for personal matters. It was not TikTok initially, but it is right to say that the bulk of the fraud went towards TikTok.
“It started off otherwise, and it became TikTok. It was not for any sort of financial reward. It was amusement. The more she did it, the more she became addicted to being on TikTok. What she was getting out of it was entertainment. That is what she was paying for. That is where the majority of the money was going towards.
“Of course, that came from her employer who is massively out of pocket. It placed the business at risk and other members of staff in jeopardy. This was an abuse of trust on a massive scale. She is thoroughly ashamed of what she has done and has come today prepared for what might be said to be the inevitable.
“She did not hold back with the police. She told them chapter and verse. It is not really rational thinking, to embark on this voyage of fraud and misadventure. What started out for her own personal benefit very quickly escalated into providing monies to TikTok.
“Bringing up children is not easy. This, I am sure, had an effect on her at the time of the offending. It is perhaps some sort of insight as to why somebody embarks upon this sort of fraud.
“It may be said that she was just greedy and wanted a better life and that is why she did it, but one has to have a holistic view of the factors in her life. It must have worn her down. It is not to negate what is deplorable behaviour, but she did not have an easy time. She is, if nothing else, a good mum who has done her best.”
Greenall admitted to one count of fraud by abuse of position. Appearing in the dock, she wiped away tears while being jailed for 28 months.
