A finance consultant who won thousands on ITV's The Chase stole more than £53,000 from dead people's bank accounts, a court heard.
Daniel Hodgin abused his position at Halifax bank in Leyland in Lancashire to snatch money from the estates of customers who had died, LancsLive reports. He used his inside knowledge to move money into his own account.
Preston Crown Court was told how the 47-year-old even duplicated a payment for funeral expenses to pay himself £4,500. Hodgin had been 'living beyond his means' for several years and despite helping people get out of debt in his job, had got into 'crushing debt himself'.
In 2017 he appeared on ITVs The Chase and won a share of a £14,000 prize. But in August 2021, Lloyds Banking Group, which owns Halifax, noticed two fraudulent payments, totalling £30,137, had been made from the account of a woman who had died a year earlier.
Further investigations revealed a number of dormant accounts had been reactivated, and used to move money around. Hodgin was the common link, prosecutor David Clarke told the court. In some cases, Hodgin had set up standing orders before cancelling them days later.
On other occasions he had used dormant accounts to have fraudulent loans paid in - before transferring the money to himself. "It was akin to layering, and making the financial trail enormously complicated", Judge Simon Medland KC said.
In one fraud, Hodgin converted a woman's current account into a joint account and transferred £3,000 - eleven days before she died. He later stole a further £16,000 and made a duplicate transfer for the cost of her funeral to his own account.
"He was able to circumvent all the banking security protocols", Mr Clarke said. Hodgin was interviewed by the police on August 19 2021.
He said he had 'done something stupid' as he was suffering with financial worries and stress. "His health wasn't good, his wife was unwell and he had carried out the frauds because of financial difficulties.
"He had over borrowed on loans and credit cards", Mr Clarke told the court.
Anna Chestnutt, defending, said: "Through his work in the banking industry he was personally involved in helping people get out of debt. Against that backdrop it must have been truly embarrassing to admit to his employers he was in such crushing debt. He had been in debt since 2008 but kept it all hidden.
"He acknowledges the bereaved families would have been distressed that he took from the estates that should have gone to their families."
Since the frauds came to light, Ms Chestnutt said Hodgin has worked with the debt charity Step Change and Minds Matter to address the root causes of his offending. Judge Medland KC said: "For reasons that aren't satisfactorily explained, you began to lead a life which was significantly beyond your legitimate means, and racked up debts.
"You sought to satisfy this ang get yourself out of trouble in a very sophisticated, cunning and prolonged way. You misused the knowledge you had of the systems in the bank where you were working, and robbing Peter to pay Paul - but you were the ultimate beneficiary of these funds.
"It will follow, from a description of your career to date that you have no previous convictions. That is mitigation but it is also balanced against the fact that that was why you had such a job in the first place.
"By some process, eventually, all the money will be repaid - either by taking money from your pension entitlement or by some other process."
Hodgin, of Boundary Street, Leyland, was sentenced to 20 months suspended for 20 months and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. He must return to court on December 9 where Proceeds of Crime proceedings will be discussed.
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