Nothing beats justice, even if it only awards £11,000.
This was the attitude that Robert Keep, managing director of
asset finance at Norton Folgate, expressed after his company
recently won a criminal case against an fraudulent ex-employee.
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Dene Jones, a contract-hire broker, stole up to £11,000 from the
independent UK asset financier and lessor over a period of three
months by recording fictitious transactions on the company’s
balance sheet and receiving unauthorised commission.
The Crown Prosecution Service took criminal action against Jones
who later pleaded guilty for fraud and was ordered
to do 18 months community service and put under community
supervision.
Furthermore, the firm’s lawyers, E Edwards Son and Noice, of
Billericay in Essex, obtained a Crown Court Judgement against Jones
whose house has been repossessed and sold to clear the company’s
debt. Jones now faces having a criminal record.
While Jones’ actions resulted in some inaccurate accounting of
the Group’s annual fee income report, Keep maintains that no
finance company has ever been in any danger of experiencing the
effects of Jones’ fraud.
Keep, who has informed other finance companies of the fraud,
said: “When I was recruiting Jones I was told by another
professional that he was very sharp and I needed to be careful
[with him]. Now the story is a matter of interest to the industry
because someone may employ that person.”
