City Bank Worker Sentenced For Raiding Accounts

A HSBC employee raided two accounts at the City branch he worked at out of over £4,000, claiming he had the customers' permission to dip into their accounts whenever he wanted to.

Mark Adam Shipp, 22, of Adelaide Close, Worthing, West Sussex used his staff number and password to transfer sums into his own account and was exposed by an internal probe.

He pleaded guilty at City of London Magistrates' Court to stealing £2,950 from Noor Diab between June 28 and August 9, last year and stealing £1,350 from Mirco Relling on August 15.

Yesterday he was conditionally discharge for twenty-four months and ordered to pay £85 costs after magistrates read a probation report.

Prosecutor Mrs Varinder Hayre told the court: "Mr. Shipp was working at the HSBC branch in Queen Victoria Street and on the second of September, last year there was a complaint from a customer that an unauthorised payment of nearly thirteen hundred pounds had been debited from his account.

"Enquiries revealed Mr. Shipp had used his staff number and password to transfer the sums to his personal account, but the defendant initially said there had to have been a mistake.

"Further investigations revealed three further payments had been credited to Mr. Shipp's account from another customer's, again using his staff number and password."

On September 27 Shipp was quizzed by HSBC investigators.

"He claimed he had the verbal authority from the second victim to transfer money from her account," added Mrs Hayre.

"The fraud team met with her and she said she had never given authority to take money from her account."

The bank reported Shipp to police, who questioned the defendant twice.

"Again he said he had an arrangement and was allowed to take as much money as was needed and pay it back whenever he could.

"During the second interview Mr. Shipp said he did not know why he did it and was not that sort of person and had learned his lesson.

"He told police he had lost his job and was now an estate agent and did not want to jeopardise his new job.

"All monies have been reimbursed by Mr. Shipp to the bank," said Mrs Hayre.