A BANK worker who stole £120,000 from a wealthy client has been ordered to pay back just £1 of the unrecovered money.

Satnam Kaur, 31, claimed she was gifted the sum as "hush money" from a bank customer she falsely accused of sexual assault.

But the former RBS worker had in fact stolen cash from the man then sent a large chunk of it back home to India - where it has never been traced.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that the Crown Office and Indian authorities have failed to find the money despite a lengthy investigation.

Now Kaur, who was jailed for a year last July and is currently awaiting deportation to India, has been told to pay back just £1 at the court - because she has no assets.

The procurator fiscal initially asked for more time to follow up the investigation into where the money had gone.

However, Sheriff Graham Buchanan yesterday held up a previously agreed document between solicitors to take just £1 from Kaur.

The sheriff said: "Wearing my civil hat, where parties come before the court and agree that certain things have happened it's justified for the court to say let's just let this happen.

"The matter can't really be reopened."

The Crown Office defended the decision to make Kaur subject to a nominal confiscation order and confirmed that any assets that come into her possession in the future can be traced in a bid to reclaim the total amount of money stolen.

A spokesman said the Crown was continuing to pursue assets internationally in a bid to identify the final location of the laundered money.

He said: "When an accused has no available assets at the time a confiscation case is settled, a nominal order for one pound is made against them.

"This measure ensures that the Crown can confiscate any assets traced in the future, up to the total amount they made from their criminal activity.

"It can in effect be a financial life sentence, ensuring those who benefited from crime in the past cannot accrue any assets until the money they made is repaid."

Kaur was working as a customer advisor at the RBS Albyn Place branch in Aberdeen when she stole the cash between October 20 and November 21, 2011. She was also found guilty of removing £88,000 of the cash out of Scotland.

She was originally charged on indictment and was due to go on trial facing similar charges last year.

But the trial collapsed after it emerged that the Crown had made a mistake.

The essential words 'by authority of Her Majesty's Advocate', which are required by law, were missing from the indictment paperwork served against the accused - making the indictment incompetent.

Sentencing her last year, Sheriff Chris Shead yesterday said the sentencing powers would have been far greater if Kaur had been found guilty on indictment.