Ben House of Southsea has been hit with a three-year, four months jail term for allegedly abusing the trust of his employer,
Ageas.
House, who worked as a claims negotiator with the insurer, reportedly siphoned off more than £270,000 from the system through an elaborate scheme where he padded claims and forwarded the proceeds of his activities to the bank accounts of unsuspecting family members.
According to a report from the City of London Police, House got around his £4,000 claims authorisation limit by padding legitimate claims, supporting them with forged documents, and even using the system log-in details of his team leader to authorise payouts.
He would then forward the payouts to the bank accounts of his family members on the pretext that he wanted to avoid tax charges on what he claimed were his work bonuses.
His scheme was discovered when another team leader uncovered his weekend log-ins into the office system using the passcodes of his own team leader.
An investigation ensued and computer audits and CCTV footage reviews revealed House’s illicit activities.
House reportedly told the police that he engaged in fraud to sustain a gambling habit.
“He clearly did not care about what he was doing, even involving his innocent family in the false claims,” Detective Constable Simon Almond, who led the investigation, said in the report.
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