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Couple jailed for £300,000 employment fraud (19 January 2015)

Date: 19/01/2015
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Couple jailed for £300,000 employment fraud

A co-conspirator of a former council chief has been jailed at Newham Crown Court in south London, after being convicted of operating an employment fraud scheme in which “ghost” employees were added to the council’s temporary staff lists – and a total of £300,000 in bogus wage payments was claimed for them.

Online publisher 24Dash.com reports that 47-year-old Kerry Butler and former youth offending chief Peter Nicholson OBE were co-conspirators in the employee scam at Newham Council.

Nicholson, 58, has already been jailed for his part in the fraud – he was jailed in July 2012 for his part in the scam after being convicted of five charges of conspiracy to defraud following a ten-week trial.

Butler had also been tried alongside Nicholson but a hung jury led to a retrial. In December 2014, Snaresbrook Crown Court found her guilty of one charge of conspiracy to defraud Newham Council of £80,000.

The court heard that Butler – also Nicholson’s partner at the time of the fraud – owned a recruitment agency through which invoices for wages for temporary staff who did not actually exist were submitted to the council for payment.

The court heard that Butler – from Bexley Heath – was also the sister of Nicholson’s former partner.

Nicholson had enjoyed trips and outings with his family as a result of the money he obtained from the scam – including a family trip to Canada costing £4,000.

A spokesman for Newham Council said:

“Butler systematically abused her in-depth knowledge of the system – we worked with her in good faith and she abused that trust.

“Newham Council has a zero-tolerance approach to fraudulent use of taxpayers' money. It cannot – and will not – be tolerated under any circumstances.

“The council constantly reviews its procedures in line with its best practice approach – and we will do everything we can to ensure this episode goes unrepeated.

“We routinely conduct internal audits to ensure council taxpayers' money is being spent properly.”

Butler was sentenced to two years in jail for her part in the fraud. Nicholson is serving a five-year jail term for his part in the scam.

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