A privately-educated businesswoman has been jailed for three years and eight months for defrauding four employees, cruelly swindled when joining her ‘niche boutique’ City recruitment agency.
They were unaware 60 year-old Nicole Arbeid was still on parole, having served time for previous frauds when hired by her company, Event Talent Specialists (ETS).
Based in serviced offices in smart Folgate Street, Spitalfields ETS styled itself as an industry leader for ‘high calibre exhibition and events specialists’.
However, Southwark Crown Court heard the company was a sham, with Arbeid, of Cholmeley Lodge, Cholmeley Park, Highgate exploiting it to attract outside investment.
She is an old girl of £21,000 a-year Lady Eleanor Holles school, Hampton and claims to have a Masters degree in Marketing and Communications from the University of Liverpool.
The three female and one male employee were deceived by Arbeid, who intended to never pay them a combined total of £13,718 in wages, even borrowing money from them that was never returned.
They were sold promises of potentially high rewards, but instead suffered severe stress; PTSD; financial ruin; sleepless nights; black outs and panic attacks, the court heard.
Arbeid fought the charges, but eventually pleaded guilty in the middle of her jury trial to four counts of fraud by abuse of position, namely intending to not pay each employee between August, 2018 and April, 2019.
She also pleaded guilty to one count of forgery, namely creating a bogus payslip to convince one employee wages had been paid into her bank account.
Arbeid had been released form a twenty-eight month prison sentence on December 28, 2017 and started her new fraud eight months later.
Employee Sarah Cynian, a senior recruitment specialist, who was deceived by the forged payslip, said: “Nicole destroyed and abused my trust. She lied constantly and did not pay for my work.”
Elmira Shirkhan, 40, was forced to return to her family in her native Sweden after being victimised by Arbeid.
“Unfortunately I put my trust and faith in Nicole,” she said. “She lied and started to milk me for money and I broke down crying, asking: ‘What have I done to deserve this?’
“I paid the deposit on her flat and suffered panic attacks and was hospitalised with black outs and PTSD.”
Arbeid cruelly falsely reported Ms Shirkhan to the police for stealing a company mobile phone and the ex-employee said closure for her would be hearing her former boss received the “maximum sentence.”
Jasmin Thakordas’s hair began falling out due to stress and she suffered daily headaches due to the stress and “shame and embarrassment” of being deceived by Arbeid, she said.
“At the trial I was disgusted to see her again and hope she is punished to the full extent of the law.”
Ashleigh Balme said he suffered financially at Arbeid’s hands. “It was a very traumatic time, cruel and needless.
“I was not paid and she dragged out excuse after excuse and her lies resulted in more debt.”
Arbeid, who receives £1,600 in benefits every month, claims she was “obsessed by the dream of running her own business,” to impress her family and friends.
Recorder Jonathan Higgs QC announced: “Anyone listening to these four victim impact statements would say the effects were serious with both physical and mental problems and financial harm.
“I have seen no evidence of any genuine business at all, but I have heard she began a start-up company and received considerable funds for it.
“She has the opportunity to present herself as running a business and obtaining funding for it.
“She has been defrauding people for decades, she is a sixty year-old fraudster and has not presented any feelings of remorse.”
Regarding Arbeid’s police interview when she blamed company “mismanagement” the Recorder said: “Let me translate that into one word: Lies.
“She set-up what looked like a legitimate and highly-successful business of the future, securing good premises and good employees with connections in the industry.
“She tricked them all this was genuine and that they would be paid generously and maintained the trickery that this was a successful business, using her position of power and trust and a strict of lies.
“From their statements these four employees, if not destroyed, had their lives severely impacted, suffering damage to their physical and mental health and financial ruin.
“One had to leave the country, some of them had to move back in with their parents.
“She has an appalling record of fraud, going back decades and in the early days the courts treated her with sympathy and then had enough of her behaviour and started passing prison sentences, but sadly there was no change in her behaviour.
“She tricked people into working for her and tricked them into continuing to work for her and forged bank statements and made very unpleasant counter-allegations, resulting in an employee being threatened with arrest.”
