Bride steals $273K for extravagant wedding

Harpist? Check. Canapés? Check. 20 months in jail? Yup.

By Kristin Wong Jan 9, 2013 4:15PM

Kirsty Lane walked down the aisle and then into the pokey. In 2011, the then 30 year-old bride threw an over-the-top wedding using $272,986 stolen from her employer.

Lane was a financial administrator for home theater company Pure AV. She siphoned hundreds of thousands from her employer and plead guilty to 10 counts of fraud. Lane was eventually sentenced to 20 months in jail. But after throwing a wedding that could rival The Royals', Lane was recently only required to repay her boss $28,633.

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So what exactly was included in this quarter of a million dollar ceremony?

Lane used the stolen money to hire a harpist to greet guests at her wedding, and her bridesmaids were given jewel-encrusted iPods. An award-winning chef provided the reception catering, and, of course, there was an open bar.

Oh, right. We almost forgot about the magicians and fireworks display.

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"I hope she has learnt her lesson," said Peter Sutton, company director of Pure AV. He told the Daily Mail that Lane's theft cost two employers their jobs and, eventually, cost the company a total of $481,740.

"It is very disappointing considering she has gained so much and had to pay back so little."

Lane made 122 payments to herself over the course of three years, but she was finally placed under suspicion when a customer asked about an invoice. Days after her wedding, Lane was put in jail.

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Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

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165Comments

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Jan 9, 2013 7:41PM

Seem no one has to fully pay for their crimes. In 2006, my half-sister embezzled $100,000 from the Kirkland, WA Eagles, and was only required to pay back only half, and spent less than 5 days in jail. On top of that, she stole the identity of our mother and my father in the sum of over $30,000; in addition, she and her boyfriend falsified documents to steal another $36,000 from the sale of the estate real estate, didn't report my mother's death to my father's pension fund pocketing a few thousand $$ there, and even sold off all the personal property receiving even more money from the estate. She lived in our mother's home for nearly a year, not paying the mortgage; forcing a sale to avoid foreclosure. The county prosecutor decided not to press charges. How can anyone learn a lesson for crimes they commit if they aren't punished to the fullest extent of the law, and only given a slap on the wrist.

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MIL MIL

Jan 9, 2013 7:36PM

Only the white people can get away with that because if she was any other race she would have suspected before she committed the crime. Another case in Missouri is similar to this. It was a little white lady that embezzled 3 million plus from a city government. The woman had prize winning horses, a new home, and was taking extravagant trips and it took them years to catch her. I guess you have to have the complexion for the connection. I cant walk into a mall or department store without being harassed. For God sake Barrack Obama is guilty of ruining the world because he is a black and the bad thing about that is the president is actually half Caucasian. 2013 and racism, prejudice, and oppression are what? Back and worse than ever because it is done under a cloak.