Jail for cashiers who betrayed their bank
Slough: Barclays pair defrauded victims who were elderly or overseas
Two apprentice Barclays Bank cashiers who ‘betrayed the trust’ of their employer and customers have been jailed for fraud.
Waseem Ahmed, of Lismore Park, Slough, and Hodaif Nadeem, of Telford Drive, Slough, both 22, carried out the frauds at branches where they worked in Slough and Bracknell.
Ahmed was jailed for four-and-a-half years and Nadeem was jailed for three-and-a-half years at Reading Crown Court on Friday, December 20.
During their eight-day trial in November, the court heard how the pair defrauded customers of almost £150,000 in April and May 2017 by transferring cash out of customers’ accounts into ‘mule’ accounts.
They also conducted fraudulent transactions over the counter, handing several thousand pounds to people who were not the account holders.
During the last week of July 2017, Nadeem and Ahmed both opened five bank accounts at different banks.
These remained largely inactive until September 2017 when Ahmed’s accounts were used to funnel £29,030 of stolen funds to other bank accounts. The accounts opened by Nadeem were not used.
The matter came to light when Ahmed conducted just over £40,000 worth of transactions from the account of a deceased man.
An investigation was carried out by Barclays Bank and then Thames Valley Police.
The pair were charged with the offences on August 15, 2018.
In court, Ahmed was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud, one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property by means of fraudulent money transfers and one count of unauthorised use of a computer.
Nadeem was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud and one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property by means of fraudulent money transfers.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Rob Gibson said: “The sentences handed down by the court reflects the seriousness of the crimes committed by Waseem Ahmed and Hodaif Nadeem.
“As bank employees they were meant to look after the interests of the bank and its customers.
“Their actions completely betrayed that trust and caused distress to a number of customers.
“Although the means used to select their victims was never established, they were generally elderly and/or overseas-based customers.
“Ahmed and Nadeem had full access to customers’ bank accounts and there was nothing that the victims could have done to prevent their accounts being defrauded.
“The most despicable act concerned Ahmed who raided the bank account of a man whom he knew was deceased, thereby holding up probate for his grieving relatives.
“During the early part of August 2017, Ahmed obtained the work log-in details for a former colleague which he intended to use to commit further frauds. Thankfully, this colleague alerted the bank which prevented any further loss to customers.
“Despite being caught out by their employers, and despite having been arrested on August 8, 2017, Ahmed committed further offences by allowing bank accounts he held in his name to be used to funnel several thousand pounds worth of stolen funds.
“It was clear the accounts owned by Nadeem had been opened for the same purpose.”
DC Gibson said that, during the trial, both defendants claimed they were acting under duress, but this was rejected by the jury who found them unanimously guilty.
He added: “I would like to thank the staff at Barclays Special Investigations team whose hard work and co-operation was instrumental in securing the convictions for fraud.”
A Barclays Bank spokesman said: “Protecting our customers’ money is our top priority and we have a zero tolerance approach to fraud.”