AHMED:JAILED BARCLAYS BANKER BLAMES ‘TOXIC’ WORK CONDITIONS FOR FRAUD

A banker who helped fraudsters steal £820,000 from a pensioner’s life savings was punishing his employers for forcing him to work in a ‘toxic’ environment, a court heard.

Mohammed Ahmed, 26, used his trusted position at Barclays Bank to transfer all but £80,000 from  retirement fund belonging to 75-year-old Brian Mahoney.

The following month, he swindled another £25,000 from the bank after setting up five fake bank accounts, each with £5,000 overdrafts, Inner London Crown Court heard.

Mr Mahoney had told jurors of his shock and worry after realising almost all of his life savings were gone when he phoned to check the interest rate two months later.

Judge Roger Chapple accepted that Ahmed had been working in a ‘toxic’ environment at the bank, with staff put under pressure to reach targets which were sometimes unrealistic.

‘Your motivation seems to be one of revenge, or teaching Barclays a lesson, in some misguided way imagining that they deserved to lose money.’

But jailing him for three years today (Thurs) the judge added: ‘There was, in respect of these offences, substantial planning and deliberation.

‘It involved working in co-operation with what were obviously professional fraudsters, given the way that the fraud was carried out and particularly where the money ended up.

‘It was because you were prepared to use your inside knowledge of the banking procedures and the weaknesses you knew were in this system that this fraud succeeded.’

The court heard that Ahmed was employed as a personal banker at the Holloway branch of Barclays in north London.

He was asked to contact Mr Mahoney, of Cuffley, Hertfordshire, to offer him a new account, for which he was given the details of the pensioner’s account.

Ahmed checked the account some 18 times in total between November 2008 and February 2009.

John Carmichael, for the Crown, said: ‘There was no business reason for this level of enquiry.

‘He was monitoring the account to plan for the fraud.’

In February 2009, he created a co-signatory to the account in the name of Philip Nabarro, without the knowledge or permission of Mr Mahoney.

The following month, he transferred £826,710 out of the account under the apparent authority of Mr Nabarro.

‘Again, the account holder Mr Mahoney knew nothing of this,’ said Mr Carmichael.

It was initially transferred to a branch of solicitors in Gants Hill, before being laundered through a number of accounts.

‘Although there is no suggestion of any direct transfer to Mr Ahmed, one transfer is a cash withdrawal of £50,000,’ said Mr Carmichael.

The following month, he opened five bank accounts, using the details of real people, before adding a £5,000 overdraft to each one and transferring and withdrawing the lot, the court heard.

He then resigned from the bank on April 22, and was arrested on 1 July.

Ahmed, of [139] Durnsford Road, Bounds Green, north London, admitted two counts of fraud.

He denied two further counts relating to adding an extra signatory to Mr Mahoney’s account and transferring the £826,710 out, but was found guilty after a trial.

Tim Forte, defending, said Ahmed had been under pressure in a ‘toxic’ work culture and and ‘succumbed to weakness’.

Judge Chapple said Mr Mahoney had suffered ‘very substantial stress and anxiety’ after learning of the theft.

He said he was willing to hand Ahmed a lesser sentence than was recommended by guidelines after reading testimonies from family and friends.

‘I bear in mind how much you have thrown away by what you have done,’ he said..
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