Mon, 18 Jun 2012
A courier company worker who fraudulently pocketed £220,000 from debt factoring firms by forging fake invoices has been jailed for 16 months.
Balwant Singh created bills for companies that did not exist and sold the fraudulent debt to two firms who paid him up to 70 per cent of the cash.
It led to a total loss of £220,115 to Ashley Commercial Finance Ltd and Panel Finance UK, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Miss Elizabeth Power told a hearing earlier this week that Singh, aged 43, ran a courier company called Nationwide Express Delivery on behalf of his mother.
The prosecutor explained that between November 2006 and July 2008, Singh used that company to pass a series of fraudulently generated invoices for companies that did not exist to the two finance firms.
The police became involved when financial workers became suspicious about the amount of invoices father-of-three Singh, of Elsma Road, Oldbury, was submitting.
Following an investigation, the defendant was arrested by officers. He admitted two offences of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
Mr Akeel Sidhu, defending, said his client was “genuinely remorseful”. The court heard the money was used to pay debts owed by one of Mr Singh’s family members and he did not have a lavish lifestyle.
Singh will face a Proceeds of Crime hearing at the end of the year to determine the extent of his profits as a result of his offending.
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