Fraud At Work

[hammerman66]

Hi ive been so Stupid, ive stolen £1000 from my company ,by cancelling tickets on my machine & taking the money ,this occurrd about 20 times in 10 months,ive been suspended from work & ive been interviewed by the police,ive denied it so far , but i will confess,what sentence do think Il get,its my first offence, ? Also if im sacked a convicted can they touch my company pension ,which ive been paying into for 35 years ,im so worried .

[daffy654]

SIQ, have you read the header in this section of answerbank?

Here it is for ease of viewing/reading:

///Disclaimer: All Answers found here should not be taken in the stead of legal advice from a solicitor.

Please refrain from being rude, abusive or judgemental - members come here for advice, not judgement! Members who offer only moral judgement will be suspended.///

[cupotee]

I don't know the answer either, what I do know is I know someone who was sacked from a job he had been a trusted valued member of staff for very many years for fraud.

He not only lost his job but his pension too.

[DJHawkes]

go to your doctor. resign on health grounds. pay the money back. that's a start.

[Barmaid]

Have a look at the sentencing guidelines here:-

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sentencing_manual/theft_breach_of_trust/

You can also good Magistrates Courts Sentencing Guidelines and look at page 100.

From the looks of it you are looking at a medium community penalty.

It is unlikely they can touch your pension.

Ignore people like Solvitquick. He/she is quite wrong to suggest you have committed an offence by denying it to the police. He/she should also remember that this is Answerbank and not Judgemebank.

[Peter Pedant]

um yes I think it is your first offence.

Clearly you need legal advice which you will have to pay for.
so far you havent had much luck with the ones above

You should think about an offer to repay the money
I know you stole the money because you needed it
but even so

and loss of pension I am sure it depends on the scheme.
If it is contributory and you can show your contributions were not from the theft I would think the amswer may be NO (loss)

[Barmaid]

*google* not *good*

[Peter Pedant]

Oh Good Barmaid is onlline and has given good advice Hammer

[ELVIS68]

What line of work are you in?

[DJHawkes]

I hope it's a traffic warden actually, but i am fickle

[Peter Pedant]

I concluded it must be transport.

and as usual the Machine gives the game away
because Hammer's pattern of cancellations wont match anyone else's.

[ELVIS68]

Lol dot, tut tut

[ELVIS68]

Just a thought, will it go against him by denying everything when first questioned?

[DJHawkes]

to be fair to hammer, what evidence do they have anyway? Maybe they are just waiting for your to hold your hands up rather than 100% sure they've caught you out. There will be a disciplinary process to follow from their side. are you in a union?

[ELVIS68]

Dot, as said, if its on his machine then it's traceable

[Barmaid]

Ideally an admission at the earliest opportunity should be made. However, a guilty plea at the earliest will achieve maximum credit. The danger for the OP is that if his denial cast doubt on his colleagues or sought to blame someone else that will potentially be an aggravating feature.

[FredPuli43]

I'm no expert on pensions, but you should be entitled to at least your contributions plus income on the fund to date. That's because it would be under a trust in some form, held on your behalf.

As to what I do know a bit about: your plea of guilty at the first available opportunity helps you one heck of a lot. What you don't say is why you did it? Was it one of those cases where you saw a flaw in the system, took a small amount, thinking it was just that, didn't get detected, and did it again? And when you finally were detected, you were surprised how much the total was?

Your problem is that theft by employees is seen as pretty serious anyway. Theft by someone who has control of records, or the means of recording intake,or who is receiving money, is regarded as particularly serious. It means jail. However, you might just get away with a suspended sentence, if your circumstances and reason for succumbing are good enough . You need a solicitor who does crime and a barrister in due course.

[ELVIS68]

Sorry to go off topic...Barmaid, did you watch the Murder Trial on TV last week?

[Just-Jude]

If you're in a union contact them immediately, they have excellent counsel and will represent you. Don't admit to anything until you've had legal advice.

You must have been working long hours and irregular shift patterns which have taken their toll and stressed you out, this can lead to abnormal and unusual behaviour. Hope it all goes ok for you.

[ELVIS68]

Sorry, have to disagree with you Just Jude, I work long hours and irregular shift patterns, it's no excuse to steal