In a cautionary tale which underlined the vulnerability of cash transfer systems to fraud, a drilling company paid £470,000 into the wrong bank account after it was contacted by a fraudster shortly before the Christmas holidays.
The company had intended to pay the money to contractors whom it had engaged to build a new warehouse. It had received a phone call from a fraudster purporting to represent the contractors and who said that they had changed their bank details. The money was paid into a private individual’s account two days before Christmas and the error was not noticed until after the festive season.
Over the next few weeks, the man into whose account the money had been paid embarked on a whistle-stop tour of the country, withdrawing large sums in cash. He managed to withdraw over £150,000 before his car was randomly searched at the port of Dover and £56,000 was found in the lining of his bag.
The man, who said he had been threatened by others to allow use of his bank account and to withdraw the cash, later admitted concealing criminal property and was jailed for three and a half years. The stark facts of the case emerged as the Court of Appeal rejected arguments that his sentence was excessive.