11th June 2019
City worker sentenced for stealing £95,856 through fraudulent expense claims
- Most of the £95,856 was stolen by the employee through 1,114 fraudulent taxi claims.
- The employee's fraudulent activity happened over in excess of three years.
A member of staff at a consultancy firm based in the City has been sentenced, after he stole £95,856 from the company.
On Monday 13 May 2019, Gurgyan Kaley, 29, of Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire (SL9), pleaded guilty at Inner London Crown Court to two counts of fraud by abuse of position of trust. Yesterday (Monday 10 June 2019), at the same court, Kaley was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to do 300 hours of unpaid work and to undergo 10 days rehabilitation for gambling addiction. A compensation order was also given, whereby Kaley must repay £75,000 within 12 months. If he fails to do so, he will be sentenced to 21 months imprisonment.
Kaley was a manager in a team based in London. In September 2018, senior staff at his place of work became aware of excessive expense claims being submitted by Kaley for taxi journeys from work to his home address. An internal review identified a large ongoing fraud that had caused a loss to the company of over £95,856.
Detective Sergeant Barry Murray, from the City of London Police, said:
“Mr Kaley submitted thousands of fraudulent taxi expense claims for whatever amounts he liked. The fact his offending remained undetected for some time undoubtedly boosted Kaley’s confidence in continuing his criminal activity over in excess of three years.
“Thankfully, Kaley’s actions were finally spotted and his unlawful activity was stopped. He will now face the consequences of abusing the trust given to him by his employers and will have to reflect on his actions.”
In total, it is believed that Kaley submitted 1,114 fraudulent taxi expense claims between 7 April 2016 and the 21 September 2018, to the value of £91,752. Kaley supported his claims with fraudulent receipts he had created himself. He also stole £4,104 through false professional fees and subscriptions expense claims.
Once the fraud was identified, Kaley’s employer contacted the City of London Police who arrested Kaley at their offices on Monday 24 September 2018.
In the seven weeks leading up to his arrest alone, Kaley submitted 328 fraudulent taxi expense claims totalling £28,693. His genuine salary payments during the same period were £7,748.