Council employee who stole funds from person he was supporting among fraud cases in Hertfordshire
A council employee who stole funds from a person he was supporting was one of two fraud cases in Hertfordshire that were successfully prosecuted over the spring.
The cases were referred to during a meeting of the county council’s Audit Committee on Friday July 25, with one relating to a council employee who stole funds from a person with learning disabilities that he was supporting.
Callum Lang, 30, committed offences between August 2019 and September 2021, and was convicted after a three-day trial at St Albans Crown Court.
On June 30, Lang was handed a 22-month suspended prison sentence along with £200 hours of unpaid work, £6,858 compensation, £1,000 costs and a £187 victim surcharge.
In a second case, £108,000 was stolen from children’s services but frozen in accounts by the Shared Anti-Fraud Service (SAFS).
The two cases were referred to during the council’s review of its annual anti-fraud progress report.
Nick Jennings, head of SAFS, said: “We mentioned two cases that were in court recently. One relating to a former member of staff and the second one to recovery of £108,000 from a proceeds of crime application.
“In that second case yesterday (Thursday, July 23) at St Albans Crown Court, one person involved in that offending was actually sentenced to a two-year custodial sentence for their part in a fraud that’s worth just over £500,000.
"So, we were very pleased with the court’s decision on that matter, and we continue to seek recovery of the balance of those funds that are outstanding.
“[Another] case we’ve mentioned there, we’ve got five defendants in a conspiracy matter, a fraud committed against adult care services back in late 2019 through to 2022.
“Those five defendants all appeared for the first time (in court) earlier this month, and their case has been put back until later this year for pleas to be entered, but we’ve got a strong indication that there will be guilty pleas in those matters as well. So, we’re very pleased with the outcomes of those recent court cases.”
Elsewhere, the department noted an increase in mandate fraud directed at schools, in which schools receive unsolicited emails from organised crime trying to subvert their payment processes.
“We’re very pleased that nobody has fallen for it, but it is a constant pressure on schools,” said Mr Jennings.