Surrey man jailed for £100,000 fraud
Connaughton, from Walton-on-Thames, created fake invoices to steal from his employer
A Surrey man has been jailed for over two years after admitting to defrauding more than £100,000 from a company he worked for.
Liam Connaughton, 28, of Felix Road in Walton-On-Thames, was sentenced for fraud by abuse of position at Guildford Crown Court on Monday (6/12).
He worked as a case handler at a company involved in vehicle leasing.
Surrey Police found he had created over 100 fake invoices to pay money into 11 personal bank accounts. The payments ranged from £150 to almost £4,000.
After being confronted by his bosses, Connaughton attempted to cover his tracks by deleting messages from his phone.
However, police were later able to find messages where he confessed to the fraud while attempting to blame others.
Further enquiries found that he'd used the money to fuel a gambling addiction.
PC Sally Newton, of Surrey Police, said:
“Connaughton’s criminal behaviour has hit this company, and its staff, hard and has resulted in a huge financial loss for them. They have also lost business from clients which have taken them years to gain.
"The loss of business has inevitably resulted in staff redundancies whilst people are still trying to financially recover from the effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
“Connaughton made no financial gains from his actions but had a serious impact on those around him. His employers and colleagues liked and trusted him but in return he betrayed them.
"Without seeking the correct help for his addiction he became a career conman who pulled the wool over a lot of people’s eyes."