Pair Trousered Cash From Abbey on King St.

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Personal bankers convicted of theft from building society

24 year old Assistant manager Simeon Andrews from Putney and his colleague personal banker 24 year old James Hollywood, have been convicted of taking more than £120,000 from the Hammersmith branch of Abbey.

The pair admitted to conspiracy to steal - between they took money from the cash machines then slipped into the lavatories to split the proceeds.

Pamela Reiss, prosecuting, told Blackfriars crown court:
"The conspiracy involved stealing cartridge money from the ATM machines over time, taking substantial amounts. When the money is put into the cash machines it sometimes chews it up or twists it around, so there's a certain loss that the bank is willing to accept. In this case, the shortfall was seen to exceed these what they call natural discrepancies."

They were caught after hidden cameras were installed! 

Miss Reiss told the court: "You could see the two men actually stealing. At one point, money was being stuffed down trousers........On one occasion, Mr Andrews unlocks the machine and goes straight to the toilet, into a single cubicle, where Mr Hollywood joins him."

Each time the amounts stolen ranged from £500 to £10,000. In total, Andrews and Hollywood stole some £120,600, none of which has been recovered. They will be sentenced in October and remain in custody until this time.

 

September 1, 2008