Company says payroll fraudster’s past had not been checked by agency
‘UNBEKNOWN TO US, HE HAD A CRIMINAL RECORD’
A COMPANY said lessons have been learned after a crooked payroll clerk transferred more than £55,000 of final salary payments into his own bank accounts – and has since been jailed.
Robert Carlin, 40, fraudulently diverted money from Reflex Labels in Mansfield to his own bank accounts over 34 transactions between July and November 2018.
He hoped his crimes would go unnoticed, but when an exemployee failed to receive settlement payments, Carlin was brought in for questioning by police.
A spokesperson for Reflex Labels said: “The biggest issue we probably had as a company was that we actually got him from an agency.
“We asked them to do checks. We’re a big company, we have more than 850 members of staff, we can do these checks but we relied on an agency on this occasion.
“We got this man into the business and, unbeknown to us, he already had a criminal record.
“For him to be in the payroll department, that would never have happened. So it was probably a lesson for us. We assumed the necessary checks would be done.
“So lessons have been learned – it was certainly an expensive lesson.
“Since then, we went out and invested in a more secure payroll system – so he would not have been able to do what he did if he was employed now.”
When he was released pending further investigation, he then joined the accounts department at Bistrot Pierre Nottingham, where he committed the offence again.
Additional financial enquiries were made and funds in excess of £7,000 were identified held in Carlin’s accounts.
He pleaded guilty to the offences at Nottingham Crown Court and claimed he stole the money to help pay off illegal gambling debts – although police found no evidence of this being the case.
Detective Constable Lucy Ward, of Nottinghamshire Police’s Fraud Investigation team, said: “Carlin was a trusted employee but he abused his position by manipulating company systems for his own gain and committing fraud.
“I hope this case sends a clear message to those who believe they can abuse their position for their own financial gain that offences will be uncovered and you will be brought before the courts to answer to your crimes.
“Nottinghamshire Police takes fraud and financial abuse seriously and is committed to investigating reports of this kind, as we recognise the wide-reaching effects this type of crime has on victims.”
A judge labelled Carlin “thoroughly dishonest” and sentenced him to 26 months in prison.