Father stole £30,000 to put daughter through university by faking invoices for five years

Simeon Payne wrote 35 cheques to himself from his employers over five years. He also stole about £800 from petty cash and £600 from a company loan

A 53-year-old father who stole £30,000 from his bosses to pay for his daughter's university course was jailed for 20 months today.
Administration services manager Simeon Payne used invisible ink to forge cheques that his employers at the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors would sign.
He faked the invoices so his employers thought they were paying a supplier. He would then erase the name of the payee and deposit the cheques into his own bank account.
Mr Payne was caught when he attempted to cash £3,700 into a joint account that he held with his wife.
Inquiries revealed that between 2007 and 2012, Mr Payne from Stockport, Manchester, wrote 35 cheques to steal nearly £29,000 from the company.
He also stole about £800 from petty cash during that time and around £600 was stolen when he lied about paying off a £2,000 loan given to him by the organisation.
He later blamed his behaviour on being 'in financial difficulty' because he needed to help to pay for his daughter's university fees and living expenses.
Mr Payne pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of a position of trust and theft by an employee at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester.
Judge Maurice Greene told him: 'You were in a position of a high degree of trust and were responsible for accounts management and these offences were certainly planned with sophistication.
'It is a high degree of theft and it comes in the top category. It was essentially theft and it was a systematic and planned fraud over the course of five years.
'You have now lost your good name after all these years of having a good reputation.
'These are serious offences and are aggravated by the fact these were over five years.
'This was made worse by the considerable stress for your wife but you knew that over the years when you were taking money.'

Mr Payne was arrested by police on 9 November 2012 after the bank alerted the CICES to a cheque which they thought was fraudulent.
Mr Payne scanned in genuine supplier invoices and amended the dates and amounts before raising cheques to pay for them.
He said he was 'remorseful' and wanted to reimburse his former employers.

Simeon Payne stole from the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors by writing cheques with invisible ink

The court heard his wife suffered from depression for 12 years and a jail term would cause 'distress' to her and his elderly mother.
But after the case PC Paul Taylor from Greater Manchester Police said: 'Payne abused his position in the organisation as an administration manager to steal money from them over several years.
'He was a trusted member of staff and he was expected to safeguard the financial interests of the organisation.
'It was only when the bank alerted them that they realised the extent of his dishonesty and the amount of money he had taken.'
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