17 February,2009 09:45 AM IST | | Agencies
A former payments clerk at the Birmingham City Council has been jailed for two years for perpetuating a u00a32.5 million fraud on the council, so that he could retire in Goa.u00a0
Former clerk Lee Seymour Jones entered into an illegal pact with Gary John Price, a jobless person, and used the latter's bank account to divert funds from the council.
Jones tricked the council by writing a letter claiming to be from a construction firm that was involved in work for the council worth millions of pounds. The letter said the company had changed its bank account. But the new account details mentioned were those of Gary John Prince.
The idea was to use the money diverted to Prince's account to finance Jones' retirement plans in Goa.
When the council deposited u00a32.5 million in the account, the bank alerted the police, which led to the arrest of Jones and Prince.
Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and all of the money was later recovered.
At the Birmingham Crown Court, Jones was sentenced to two years in jail while Prince was sentenced to 51 weeks, suspended for two years, and told to complete 250 hours unpaid work.
