A woman stole thousands of pounds from a social club by giving herself pay rises without authorisation and laundering over £25,000 through India.

Jeanette Gardner, 64, is believed to have taken as much as £100,000 from Hailsham Memorial Institute over the space of more than a decade.

An investigation into her behaviour uncovered fraud, theft and abuse of position while working as an administrator for the not-for-profit organisation.

George Shannon, of Sussex Police, said: “HMI is an historic club that plays a key role in the local community. The money lost through Gardner’s systematic and despicable behaviour nearly resulted in its closure but thankfully she has been caught, and the club can now continue to thrive under its new stewardship.

“The exact amount of money taken from the club is not clear due to a lack of paperwork and receipts kept by Gardner, however it is believed to be in excess of £100,000.

“When discrepancies started to come to light and Gardner was confronted, she denied all wrongdoing and continued to maintain her innocence right up to and during her trial.”

Gardner was appointed as an administrator at the club in 2006 and held her position until August 2019.

An investigation uncovered that Gardner would forge her employment contracts to give herself pay rises, withhold payments to HMRC and even laundered £26,000 of social club funds through India.

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Her crimes were discovered after club members became suspicious following a charity performance of the Full Monty.

After being confronted by other members of the social club Gardner tried to falsify receipts and pretended to find £3,000 of money she had “lost”.

Gardner, of Meadow Road in Hailsham, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position during her trial at Lewes Crown Court.

She was later convicted by a jury of seven charges including fraud by false representation, theft, transferring criminal property and fraud by failing to disclose information.

She was found not guilty of two counts of fraud and one of theft.

Hailsham Memorial Institute was founded in 1920 in memory of a soldier who was killed in the First World War.