Fraudster caught out after lying to get job (From The Oxford Times)

Fraudster caught out after lying to get job

1:00pm Wednesday 8th August 2012 in Abingdon By Fran Bardsley, covering Education, East Oxford and Cowley. Call me on 01865 425439

A FINANCIAL worker who fiddled credit agreements so he would earn a better rate of commission has been sentenced for seven counts of false accounting.

Bienvenu Vandermesh, of Quakers Court, Abingdon, lied about a previous conviction for obtaining property by deception to get a job as an agent for Provident Financial, which grants small loans to people who would not normally qualify for credit.

Then the 38-year-old took advantage of his position, Oxford Crown Court heard on Monday, by incorrectly entering amounts on forms and pocketing the difference, ripping pages out of passbooks and forging signatures.

His deception came to light when customer Teresa Day made enquiries when her husband was refused credit elsewhere.

In all, Vandermesh defrauded Provident out of £1,738.11. He has since paid back £1,114.50.

Vandermesh was given a 12 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £623 compensation and £425 costs.

Judge Michael Gledhill told him: “You ought to be thoroughly ashamed of yourself.”

Provident Financial spokesman Annette Stewart said: “We always seek to protect our customers by reporting cases such as these to the police.”