Poundstretcher boss escapes jail after fraudulent dealings

A man from Watford, who was the former manager at the Poundstretcher store in Bedford has escaped a prison sentence after a court heard how he pocketed wage slips for two bogus workers. Parshkumar Patel used his position at the store to create false details which allowed him to take almost £12,000 from his employers in a three-and-a-half month period in 2014. With him in the dock at Luton Crown Court was his brother-in-law Ketan Bharadia who had received £5,237 of the money. Alison Ginn, prosecuting, told how the store manager’s bosses were tipped off that he was on the fiddle, which involved payslips for non existent workers. As a result, a loss prevention officer from the company, along with an auditor, visited the store as an investigation got underway. It was discovered that Patel had wiped clean a CCTV camera the day before the visit. In court Patel, 35, of High Street, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of a position of trust. His 27-year-old brother-in-law from Doncaster Road, Leicester, admitted dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit. The court was told that after the offences came to light, Bharadia had paid back the money he received to Patel who, in turn, had paid back £12,000 to the company. Patel was given a nine month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to perform 200 hours of unpaid work. Bharadia was ordered to perform 120 hours of unpaid work as part of a 12 month community order. Picture courtesy of Hoss Photography