Recruitment boss, 29, defrauded firm of £6k with ‘ghost payroll’

THE manager of a recruitment firm put his friend on the books as a “ghost” employee and charged clients thousands of pounds in wages for work that was never done, a court has heard.

Daniel Paul Downing, aged 29, later left the firm – and the country – and started a new life as a professional singer in Spain.

Swansea Magistrates’ Court heard that in 2014 Downing was working as a branch manager for Meridian Business Support in Cardiff.

Julie Sullivan, prosecuting, said he put a friend on the books of the firm, and invoiced customers including Rentokil and Econotherm for hours he had supposedly worked.

In reality the employee did no work for any clients.

In November of that year queries about some of the invoices were raised, and Meridian investigated the matter – the firm uncovered £6,135 worth of fraudulent invoices, including bookings which showed the ghost employee apparently working in two different places at the same time.

Downing was called in for a disciplinary meeting, and left the firm.

Shortly afterwards Downing moved to Spain.

He was arrested at Birmingham airport on November 30 this year after flying back to Britain.

Downing – who gave his address as Clydach Avenue, Resolven, Neath – pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation.

Downing was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months, and was made the subject of an electronically monitored 9pm to 6am curfew for the next 10 weeks.