A SELF-employed credit agent went missing after she was quizzed by her bosses about fraudulent loans, a court heard.

Lockwood woman, Paula Balmforth, had been working for Greenwood Personal Credit Ltd for eight years.

An investigation was held last year into a query by a client over two loans totalling £1,100, which he had supposedly taken out.

But the man’s signature had been forged on loan agreements completed by Balmforth. And after initial questioning in July she went missing for 10 days.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the 52-year-old eventually contacted the firm and informed them she wanted to “tell them everything’’.

Prosecutor Ewan McLachlan, said Balmforth, who had no previous convictions, identified 14 occasions when she had forged customer signatures.

The fraud involved 11 different customers and sums totalling £12,300.

An inquiry into Balmforth’s activities revealed two further forged loans totalling £1,724. She also admitted stealing £1,100 from customer repayments and a cash float.