Ex-police officer is jailed for two years for stealing £1m from her solicitor employer to give to dating app fraudster who has disappeared with the cash

[Premi]

 

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-12315869%2FEx-police-officer-jailed-two-years-stealing-1m-solicitor-employer-dating-app-fraudster-disappeared-cash.html

Ex-police officer is jailed for two years for stealing £1m from her solicitor employer to give to dating app fraudster who has disappeared with the cash

• Former officer Manjit Singh made eight transactions from employers account 
• The 60-year-old transferred funds to account of a man she met on dating site  

By GEMMA PARRY

PUBLISHED: 13:15 EDT, 19 July 2023 | UPDATED: 13:23 EDT, 19 July 2023

 

An ex-police officer wo stole £1m from her employer to hand over to a man she believed 'wanted to marry her' has been jailed for two years. 

Manjit Singh secretly made eight transactions from her solicitor employer's account to the bank account of a man she met on a dating website who requested financial help. 

Liverpool Crown Court heard that the 60-year-old former Malaysian police officer  believed the man would repay her, but both he and the money have 'vanished' and are yet to be traced by police. 

Singh, of Warwick Street, Toxteth, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to eight offences of fraud by abuse of position between September 23 and October 5, 2021. 

Peter Killen, prosecuting, told the court Singh had been employed by Lei Dat & Baig solicitors, based on Renshaw Street in the city centre, from 2014 where she initially worked as a volunteer on IT systems.  

She became a full time employee in 2017 and by 2019, was working on cases and had been trained to transfer money between client and office amounts, and make payments under the supervision of Mr Baig. 

On the evening of October 6, 2021, Mr Baig checked his business account and found just £40,000, having expected to see a balance of £800,000. 

Thereafter came deposits of £47,000 on September 27, £87,700 on September 29 and £155,080 on September 30. The transactions finally rose to £388,200 on October 4 and £260,000 on October 5, bringing the total to £958,180. 

He called Singh, who said the transfers had been properly made and said she would check the following day. The next morning, she sent him a message saying she had identified the problem and that she would resolve it, alongside an image of a cheque for £945,000 purportedly payable to the firm. ...

 

...

'She explained the transfers were for a man called Ravi she had met online', Mr Killen said. 'She believed that Ravi wanted to marry her, she believed he was currently in Dubai working. 

'She met him on a site called Asian.Shaadi.com which is a site for people interested in getting married,' said Mr Killen.

Singh explained that she initially denied his request for a few thousand pounds, but then agreed. He asked for larger and larger payments on the basis he would be able to travel from Dubai once equipment was shipped.

Singh, who divorced in 2019, previously said she had hoped to marry Mr Jani. 

She said they had numerous phone calls a day and she saw him once or twice on FaceTime.

When her bank accounts were examined there was no evidence of any financial benefit to her.

...

Gwen Renshaw, defending, said the messages between Singh and Mr Jani were illuminating and shows she was extremely vulnerable.

'He repeatedly told her she was beautiful, that he cared for her and would look after her and they were in love', she said. 

'She was told she was beautiful, he would care for her and look after her and they were in love. She is at a loss as to how she could have been so naïve.

'At the time, she was going through a very difficult period. It would seem she was ripe for exploitation as a result of a number of factors.

'She clearly believed the line Ravi Jani was spinning her. She believed she was helping a man she loved and the money would be returned.

'The defendant clearly bitterly regrets her involvement in this offence. Ms Singh feels incredibly stupid for having been taken in and acted as she did.'

She added that Singh, who has long standing mental health problems, was going through a difficult time. 

The court heard that Singh's father, who had been shot, was a police officer. Her siblings were also in the force. 

Singh left the force after her father's death and came to the UK, where she worked for charities including Women's Aid. 

 

She married someone from a different faith, who was unfaithful and left her while she was suffering from cancer, Ms Henshaw said. 

Her ex-partner then had a child in a new relationship. Singh was unable to have children due to her cancer. 

Judge David Aubrey, KC, said that only an immediate jail sentence was appropriate and put her behind bars for two years. 

.....

[dalsingh101]

22 hours ago, Premi said:

She explained the transfers were for a man called Ravi she had met online', Mr Killen said. 'She believed that Ravi wanted to marry her, she believed he was currently in Dubai working. 

'She met him on a site called Asian.Shaadi.com which is a site for people interested in getting married,' said Mr Killen.

Singh explained that she initially denied his request for a few thousand pounds, but then agreed. He asked for larger and larger payments on the basis he would be able to travel from Dubai once equipment was shipped.

Singh, who divorced in 2019, previously said she had hoped to marry Mr Jani. 

She said they had numerous phone calls a day and she saw him once or twice on FaceTime.

When her bank accounts were examined there was no evidence of any financial benefit to her.

...

Gwen Renshaw, defending, said the messages between Singh and Mr Jani were illuminating and shows she was extremely vulnerable.

'He repeatedly told her she was beautiful, that he cared for her and would look after her and they were in love', she said. 

'She was told she was beautiful, he would care for her and look after her and they were in love. She is at a loss as to how she could have been so naïve.

 Proper 

 

[GurjantGnostic]

Singh(ni)s only. Anand Karaj only.