Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Eight guilty of fraud and money laundering scam at Haringey council
A finance officer at Haringey council admitted making £466,000 fraudulent payments to accomplices for fake services that were never delivered.
[...] During the scam, between June 2010 and October 2012, Elkatme, based in Haringey Council’s Adult Services Payments Team - responsible for administering payment for providers of care services for vulnerable adults, made 66 fraudulent payments to her seven accomplices.
Read on: Ham+High report here
No mention in that report of whether they recovered any of the stolen money.
They are due to be sentenced on August 19 at Southwark Crown Court, so that may reveal how much they still have tucked away.
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Tags for Forum Posts: fraud
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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Open and proudly corrupt
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Permalink Reply by Malcolm on
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Except fraud isn't corruption. Corruption is being paid to act in a way that is not proper. Fraud is stealing.
One fraudster at the council doesn't make it corrupt, any more than a cashier stealing from Tescos would make Tescos corrupt.
If you want to accuse harringey of being corrupt you'll need some actual evidence.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Agree; what appears to have happened here is akin to embezzlement in a company and that could happen in the most respectable company.
I note that the fraud went on for more than two years – presumably up to the point of detection. From that point, it appears to have been reported to the police two months on. Arrests took place seven months later. The (successful) prosecution took further two years. We don't know all the details of course. The questions that occur to me are:
- How did a person of the character of the big-scale fraudster come to be employed in a responsible position of trust in the first place?
- Since most aspects of this case seem to have been occasioned with delay and presumably, difficulty, what confidence can the public have that this was a one off?
- Will any of the £460,000 of public monies be recovered for the benefit of Haringey Adult Services?
CDC
Haringey Councillor
Liberal Democrat Party
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Don't know any of the facts Clive but I would imagine it's in the nature of a seasoned fraudster to paint themselves as a legitimate trustworthy person.
I know of a case where I worked years back where a fraud was detected and allowed to go for some while so that the string of accomplices could be caught rather than immediately arresting the main player, alerting all the others and letting them go to ground.
What is profoundly depressing about this case though is that half a million quid that should have been helping some of the most vulnerable people in this borough went into the pockets of criminals. I really do hope the sentence reflects that.
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What is profoundly depressing about this case though is that half a million quid that should have been helping some of the most vulnerable people in this borough went into the pockets of criminals. I really do hope the sentence reflects that.
Strongly agree, Michael and hope the money will be recovered.
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