Bank loan fraudster netted £300,000
A Mildenhall bank manager netted £300,000 by defrauding customers, a court has revealed.
Jason Benham, 36, had been in charge at branches of Lloyds TSB in Mildenhall and Lakenheath, where he persuaded customers to take out loans before transferring the money from their accounts.
In November, Benham, of Paynes Lane, Feltwell, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to five offences of fraud by abuse of position and one charge of obtaining a money transfer by deception between June 2005 and November 2008.
But the actual financial gain he received from his criminal activities was still unclear. On Friday he was called back to court to hear that the amount had been calculated at 300,000.
The hearing has now cleared the way for Benham to be sentenced, which will take place on April 6.
The court had previously heard how he persuaded five customers, who he considered 'financially naive', to take out second and even third loans which, he said, would help to consolidate their borrowings before telephoning and arriving at their homes shortly afterwards with the necessary papers to sign.
When the customers checked their statements they discovered that rather than their original loan having been paid off, they were still paying for that and the subsequent ones. Money from the loans was being transferred to other accounts held by Benham.
A sixth person had a 22,000 loan taken out in his name by Benham without his knowledge.
Every time any of the victims raised queries about their accounts and loans, he told them there had been an administrative error and it would be sorted out.
He was eventually caught after a customer complained to Lloyds TSB head office about the problems he was facing.
Benham was suspended and an investigation was launched by the company. As a result, he was arrested and interviewed by police where he admitted immediately what he had done.
His victims, who had been left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket by his scams, have now been reimbursed by the bank.
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