London:
A 24-year-old Indian-origin man who was on bail has been jailed for 18 months by a court in the UK on charges of stealing 61,000 pounds from his employer.
Leicester Crown court found that Dharmesh Mukesh Kumar Patel, abused his position of trust as a purchase ledger clerk with Ashfield Healthcare, to divert payments due to suppliers into his own bank account, between March 3 and 25 this year, the Leicester Mercury reported.
Mr Patel, a gambling addict pleaded guilty to committing the fraud. He was already on bail for a similar offence with a different company, when he joined Ashfield Healthcare, the report said.
"By the time three dishonest transactions totaling 61,098 pounds were discovered, he was serving a 10 month jail sentence for an earlier 90,000 pounds fraud at a Northampton business where he formerly worked," prosecutor Harold Ewing said.
"He diverted the money in the hope of being able to gamble and make money to pay people back, but it wasn't something he was able to do," Mr Ewing said.
While sentencing, Recorder Simon Redhead said: "You accept full responsibility for your actions and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity."
Mr Patel will no longer will have a bank account and his father will be in charge of his finances, the court said.