A bank clerk who stole over GBP 300,000 and replaced it with toy money is to be prosecuted after cops found she spent it on a life of luxury with her ex-hubby.

Anna Grigorieva, 30, was caught on CCTV as she allegedly stole some of the RUB 22 million (GBP 312,000) from a branch of Alfa-Bank, the largest private bank in Russia, in the city of Achinsk, located in Krasnoyarsk Krai, in Russia’s Siberia region, on 7th December.

Grigorieva, who had worked as a cashier at the bank for eight years, claimed that her husband’s gambling debts gave her no choice and that people he owed money to had threatened her.

But cops say that the only person that had asked her for cash was her gambling ex husband and not debt collectors, and that the pair had spent the money on his debt and on a life of luxury, buying two expensive cars, travelling and dining in expensive restaurants.

She want on the run shortly before the theft was discovered but late turned herself in after police spoke to her mother and managed to contact her directly.

Irina Volk, a spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, said: “One of the officers of the criminal investigation department suggested that the mother of the suspect was in fact aware of her whereabouts. It was decided to talk to her again.

“During the conversation, the operative managed to build a constructive relationship with the woman. As a result, she convinced her daughter to stop hiding and report to the police.”

Irina Volk, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, said: “The investigator of the Main Investigation Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory completed a preliminary investigation of a criminal case on embezzlement of funds belonging to the bank and their laundering.

“As a result of operational-search activities, employees of the criminal investigation department of the regional head office established that the cashier of the organization may be involved in the illegal act.

“The woman had access to the safe and, under the influence of her ex-husband, stole money.

“In addition . . . it was established they made two transactions to purchase cars in the amount of 1.4 million rubles and transferred the currency to accounts opened in the name of the accused.

“More than 50 witnesses were interrogated in the criminal case, 13 seizures of documents and valuables were carried out, as well as six searches, during which funds in the amount of more than two million rubles (GBP 28,000) were seized. In addition, the vehicles purchased by the accomplices were seized.

“As it turned out during the investigation, from January 2018 to May 2018, her former husband Denis Grigoriev was unemployed and accumulated debts through gambling.

“To escape from debt collectors, he remembered his ex-wife. She worked as a senior cashier at Alfa-Bank JSC. The man persuaded the woman to steal the money. As a result, from May 2018 to December 2021, the woman stole 22.8 million rubles, some of this in foreign currency. The money went not only for the debts, but also to fund a life of luxury on expensive things including cars and restaurants.

The criminal case will be heard at the Achinsk City Court.