Man lived ‘High Life’ after stealing £350k from Employer

Harminder Gill, aged 27, of Wednesbury, was jailed for four and a half years after he stole £350,000 from his employer and used the money to live a lavish lifestyle.

He was working in the payroll department for a company in North Warwickshire when he found a glitch in the system.

This meant he could transfer money to himself without anyone realising it.

Gill set up six bank accounts in his name and the name of a family member and started transferring money from the company’s payroll into them.

He started off small, only transferring a few thousand pounds at a time.

When Gill realised nobody had noticed, he became more brazen and started transferring more money, the largest amount being £32,000.

Between May 2019 and October 2021, Gill made 181 transactions totalling £350,000.

Gill used the money to live a life of luxury. He spent £36,000 hiring executive cars and £40,000 taking his family on holiday to Ibiza.

He regularly visited the Shard where he frequently hired out suites to entertain friends.

Gill was only caught after a member of staff at the company complained that they were not paid for one month. An audit of the payroll system was carried out.

The audit discovered there were three bank accounts in Gill’s name and the fraud was uncovered.

In May 2022, Gill was arrested at his home and in an interview, he admitted to stealing the money.

Detective Constable Kevin Usher from Warwickshire Police CID said:

“Gill was brazenly stealing this money from his employer and used it to portray an image of wealth to everyone who knew him.

“The reality couldn’t have been further from the truth.”

“He started off small, but like many offenders like this he became greedy and now he is left with nothing and facing a lengthy prison sentence that he fully deserves.”

At Warwick Crown Court, Gill pleaded guilty to fraud and was jailed for four and a half years.

Tejinder Sandhu of the CPS said: “Mr Gill committed a serious offence when he took advantage of his employer, causing a loss of more than £340,000 to fund his luxurious lifestyle.

“His offending continued for a period of two years and his actions show that he deliberately diverted transactions to his own accounts and those of his family members without their knowledge or consent.

“As today’s sentencing shows, the Crown Prosecution Service will not tolerate those who abuse their positions of trust to make a gain for themselves.

“Mr Gill has now received a sentence that reflects the seriousness of his offending.”