A woman has been charged in connection with the alleged theft of £300,000 from the accounts of Pembroke College.

The woman, formerly an employee of the university, has been charged with fraud by abuse of position after an investigation was launched in January into the money disappearing from Pembroke College accounts.

A Cambridgeshire police spokeswoman said: “I can confirm a 41-year-old woman from Cambridge was arrested on suspicion of theft from employer, following a report from Pembroke College. She returned to Parkside police station in Cambridge this morning (Monday), following bail, and was charged with two counts of fraud by abuse of position, suspected to have stolen £285,986.18 from Pembroke College, Cambridge and £3,198.00 from Girton Social Club. A third charge has been made of false accounting.”

The woman will appear in court on the 1st of December.

The college’s Bursar Dr Andrew Cates told the Daily Mail that “a member of counting staff at Pembroke College was suspended on January 22, 2014 … they were subsequently dismissed.” He declined to comment further but stressed that the college would co-operate with police investigations.

The alleged thefts escaped the notice of the former Chief of MI6 and current Master of Pembroke College, Sir Richard Dearlove, who has been Master of the college since 2004.