Car salesman conned his boss out of £12,000

A USED car salesman conned his employer out of thousands of pounds and stole a luxury car to fund his gambling habit, a court heard.

Robert McNamara, who worked as a general sales manager for Griffin Mill Garages, in Pontypridd, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of fraud by false representation and one of theft.

Prosecuting at Cardiff Crown Court, Claire Pickthall described his offending as “sustained and sophisticated”. The court heard the defendant was hired as a sales manager in May 2015 and was responsible for used cars.

Prosecutors said he was suspended for an unrelated matter and later dismissed in May 2016, at which point his behaviour was discovered.

The court heard he committed the fraud offences between December 2015 and April 2016.

Ms Pickthall said he would agree a price with a customer, create an invoice and ask the customer to pay that amount into his bank account.

He would than cancel that invoice, create a new one for a lower price and keep the difference. Prosecutors said he would usually take about £500 at a time, but pocketed more than £1,000 in one transaction.

He also admitted stealing an Audi worth £9,000 which came in for partexchange and “never went through the books”.

The court heard his offending had caused a loss of more than £12,000 to Griffin Mill Garages but that the money had been repaid.

McNamara, 48, from Aspen Way in Llantwit Fardre, Pontypridd, was committed to prison for 20 months, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work. He must pay £360 in costs and a £140 victim surcharge.