A NORTH-EAST woman, arrested as part of an investigation into an alleged £400,000 teachers' pension fund fraud, has been charged, The Northern Echo can reveal.

The woman, who worked for outsourcing firm Capita, in Darlington, was suspended last summer over allegations she stole hundreds of thousands of pounds.

An inquiry by the national company - which looks after pensions and investments - revealed anomalies in finances over a period of almost 18 months.

The 45-year-old suspect was quizzed in August about the black hole in the accounts going back to the summer of 2013, and was released on bail.

Sources confirmed last night that the woman, from Darlington, was charged on Friday by Durham Constabulary with a fraud totalling more than £400,000.

Capita, the largest professional outsourcing company in the UK, consolidated its Darlington offices at Mowden Hall, in the town's West End, and near the Asda store in Whinbush Way, on a new site at the Lingfield Point business park last year.

The 42,000 sq ft headquarters employs 450 people who administer public sector pensions for thousands of Government employees and the teachers' pension scheme.

At the time of the worker's arrest, a source said the apparent scandal would embarrass senior officials in Whitehall.

The whistle-blower said: "It all seems like a horrible mess that the company wishes would simply go away. Sadly, it seems that can't happen now."

Last night, Detective Constable Mick Trodden, from Darlington CID, confirmed a woman had been charged, but would not go into detail about it.

He said: "A 45-year-old female former employee of Capita has been charged with two offences, and will be appearing in court later this month.

"These charges follow a lengthy and very complex investigation into financial irregularities at the company offices between 2013 and last year."

Capita - which employs 50,000 people - first won "outsource" contracts from the Government in the 1980s. It now has a wide portfolio of clients in central government, local government, education, transport, health, life and pensions, insurance, and other private sector organisations.

In 2014 the group reported a profit of £292.4m on turnover of £4.3bn.