Housing association chief jailed for three years over £325,000 fraud
A greedy public housing chief who abused his well-paid position to steal £325,000 to buy a sandwich shop franchise has been jailed for three years.
Lakhbir Jaspal, who as deputy chief executive of Accord Group housing association was earning £147,000 a year, conned his employers with bogus invoices, said West Midlands Police.
When the qualified accountant’s ruse was uncovered he lied to officers, telling them he needed cash to fund end-of-life care for his mother.
Detectives later discovered the money had been used to buy two Subway franchises in Coventry, with Jaspal (pictured) on his way to acquiring a third when his scheming was uncovered.
He admitted eight counts of fraud at Birmingham Crown Court today and was handed concurrent jail sentences for his crimes.
Jaspal’s deceit only came to light when a series of dodgy invoices submitted to Accord were found to have been raised by companies controlled by the 47-year-old.
He resigned from his post at West Bromwich-based Accord in June after being confronted over the bogus paperwork by his employer.
Police then arrested Jaspal at his £1 million luxury seven-bed Warwickshire home in Gaydon, which featured its own indoor swimming pool and gym.
Despite claiming he was desperate for cash to fund his mother’s care, detectives found out she was being looked after on the NHS.
Further scrutiny of his finances revealed he had spent £13,000 on jewellery in just two months.
Detective Constable Mark Delaney said: “It is a classic case of pure greed.
“Not satisfied with a £147,000-a-year salary he spotted an opportunity to defraud the company – one that is part-funded by the taxpayer – to line his own pockets.”
He added: “He was the principal budget holder with responsibility for monitoring and authorising expenditure.
“He is a qualified accountant and abused his accountancy skills and his senior position to hide the fictitious invoices in Accords’ account figures.
“It’s particularly distasteful he tried claiming he needed the money to pay for his mother’s end-of-life care – but our inquiries showed she was admitted to a home in December 2013, more than 12 months after his last successful fraudulent invoice.”
Jaspal has agreed to pay back the money owed.
A spokesperson for Accord said: “We were shocked and disappointed with the actions of this one individual within our company who abused his position to steal.
“This was an isolated incident and we have a zero tolerance policy against any such crimes.
“We have a legal agreement in place to recover the money and all costs, and we would like to reassure our staff and customers that it is business as usual for the group.”
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