Insurance

Insurance company fraudster sentenced

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An insurance company manager who stole more than £5,000 from his employers has been ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work.

A court was told Malcolm Gillies diverted money from customer repayments into his own bank account while working for Aviva.

The 35-year-old from Perth was sacked for gross misconduct after the allegations came to light.

A sheriff told Gillies he had committed a “gross breach of trust.”

Depute fiscal Bill Kermode told Perth Sheriff Court that Gillies started working for Aviva in 2008 and later revealed he had financial problems.
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Mr Kermode said: “Part of his role was processing insurance premium refunds to customers.

“The money would go back to customer bank accounts if they were not satisfied.”

The prosecutor said that if the original bank account was no longer used, the company had a facility to send the money to a different account.

Gillies used this loophole to create fund transfers to his own account and the company only became aware of what he was doing when they received an anonymous tip-off.

Mr Kermode said: “He was interviewed and admitted he had financial issues when he started in 2008 due to a car loan.

“He stated this escalated when he went through a divorce.”

Gillies told the court that he had saved £800 to repay part of the money he had taken between 2 November 2012 and 15 April 2013.

He admitted embezzling £5,041 from Aviva in Perth when he was employed as a customer manager.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: “This was a gross breach of trust involving a significant sum of money.

“Ultimately what you have done is potentially prejudice your future.”

BBC

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