A former JD Sports complaints staff member has said he is ‘terribly sorry’ after stealing over £27,000 to fund his gambling on stocks and cryptocurrency. Siraj Mahmood, 26, was working as an ‘Executive Contact Member’ at the head office in Bury when his managers became aware of irregularities in the bank.
Following an audit, they found Mahmood, of Bury, had stolen various amounts of money on 26 occasions, to the tune of £27,901.58.
When he was confronted, he immediately admitted what he had done, and said he had already spent £4,500 of his own money to buy cryptocurrency. He has since pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position, and was today (August 22) handed a suspended sentence.
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Prosecutor Laura Broome told Minshull Street Crown Court that Mahmood began working at the head office in Bury in December 2019. His role was in the customer care department and he was involved in dealing with complaints.
Towards the end of 2021, managers noticed irregularities in the accounts and an audit revealed that Mahmood had ‘fraudulently stolen the money’ for himself.
“There were 26 occasions between June 2021 and October 2021, and the total amount taken was £27,901.58,” Ms Broome said.
“On 19 occasions, he had done so by making false order numbers, and processed the refund to his personal account. On the seven other occasions he used legitimate order numbers to process unauthorised refunds to his bank account.”
Mahmood was interviewed by his manager in which he admitted to adding ‘a few pence’ to the sums so it didn’t look ‘dodgy’. He also said he had used £4,500 of his own money to purchase cryptocurrency. He has since been suspended.
Mahmood was said to have one previous conviction for driving offences.
Speaking from the dock, Mahmood said: “I genuinely am terribly sorry for the crimes I have committed. I have learnt a big lesson in the abuse of trust of the position.
“I apologise to my employer and to the court as well, and I believe going forward it’s a big learning curve for myself.”
Sentencing, Judge John Potter said: “Your employer was JD Sports. You worked there at the Headquarters in Bury in the customer care department dealing with customer complaints, and so you could make refunds to customers if the complaints should merit such a course.
“What you did over a period of time was to create 26 fictitious such refunds and transfer the amount you were refunding for 26 fictitious customers.
“Having created those fictions by fraud, you then put that money into your bank account. Over that time you were gambling on stocks and the value of cryptocurrency.
“This was uncovered by your employer and you were interviewed by your manager.
“You didn’t seek to blame anybody else, nobody else in JD Sports was under suspicion.”
Mahmood, of Shortlands Avenue, Bury, was handed 18 months imprisonment which was suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and 200 hours of unpaid work.
A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing was set for later this year.
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