Deloitte executive claimed more than £100,000 from fake taxi receipts

A crooked city worker who conned Deloitte bosses out of nearly £100,000 through fake taxi journeys to pay for his online gambling addiction has been spared jail. 

Team manager Gurgyan Kaley, 29, was recruited by Deloitte via their graduate training scheme on a salary of £54,000, plus £5,000 in benefits after leaving a bond trading position.

But he went on to claim fraudulent cab bills from work to his home 'for whatever amounts he liked' until senior staff became suspicious of the excessive amounts last year.

An internal review at Deloitte discovered a huge ongoing fraud that had cost the company £95,856 over two-and-a-half years.

In total, Kaley expensed 1,114 fraudulent taxi claims between April 2016 and September 2018, supporting his claims with fake receipts he had created himself.

On May 13 Kaley, of Buckinghamshire, admitted two counts of fraud by abuse of position of trust at Inner London Crown Court.

On June 10 he was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work and undergo 10 days rehabilitation for gambling addiction. 

Judge Benedict Kelleher said: 'You started on a good salary as a graduate and began thirty-nine months of fraud by submitting false and fraudulent claims for expenses, mostly taxi rides.

An internal review at Deloitte discovered a huge ongoing fraud that had cost the company £95,856 over two-and-a-half years

'I accept you had become addicted to online gambling and like all gamblers you failed to make a profit and ran up considerable debts.

'You were becoming increasingly desperate and this pair of offences will inevitably damage or destroy your prospects of working as an accountant.'

A compensation order was also given and Kaley must repay £75,000 within 12 months. If he fails to do so, he will be sentenced to 21 months in prison.

In the seven weeks leading up to his arrest alone, Kaley submitted 328 fraudulent taxi expense claims worth almost £29,000 - nearly four times his actual salary payments during the same period of £7,750.

He also claimed more than £4,000 through false professional fees and subscriptions expense claims.

Detective Sergeant Barry Murray, from the City of London Police, said: 'Mr Kaley submitted thousands of fraudulent taxi expense claims for whatever amounts he liked.

'The fact his offending remained undetected for some time undoubtedly boosted Kaley's confidence in continuing his criminal activity over in excess of three years.

'Thankfully, Kaley's actions were finally spotted and his unlawful activity was stopped.

Gurgyan Kaley, 29, was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment, suspended for two years on Monday