A pair of call centre workers who stole £75,000 from customers' bank accounts have been jailed.
Sean Waterton and Laura Barrett both worked at a management services company in Milton Keynes that provided a customer service call centre for a national bank.
Waterton, 26, from Fowler, Stantonbury, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and Barrett, 24, from Hornbeam, Newport Pagnell, was sentenced to 14 months in jail at Huntingdon Crown Court yesterday (11/3), after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud.
The court heard that between September 21, 2007 and February 18, 2008, 75 accounts were compromised and 37 of these accounts were subject to fraud attempts.
In each case the customer has confirmed that the transfer requests are fraudulent.
The national bank recorded the net fraud loss at £75,221.98 as of March 18, 2008.
However, the bank estimates that there has been up to £142,336.83 gross attempted fraud.
Waterton and Barrett were arrested on December 10, 2007 and bailed pending further investigation.
They were both charged nearly two years later on November 9, 2009.
Det Con Jo Pape, investigating, said: "This has been a very complex investigation where we have been working very closely with the bank to ensure a charge was brought to Waterton and Barrett.
"They betrayed the trust of their employers; abusing their position for their own financial gain."