Ofcom data chief jailed for fraud

The data services chief of communications regulator Ofcom has been sentenced to two and half years in jail at Southwark Crown Court for defrauding his former employer of over £500,000.
Jurgen Whitehouse, of Welling, Kent, had previously pleaded guilty on May 10 to one count of fraud where he admitted to abusing his senior position in IT to defraud his employer of £522,123 between July 2008 and April 2009. Whitehouse has subsequently paid a large percentage of this amount back.
The allegation was first reported to police on March 17 2010 by the financial controller of Ofcom. Following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service’s Economic and Specialist Crime Unit, Whitehouse was arrested on June 29 2010 and subsequently charged in February this year.
Investigating officer detective constable Elliott Toms of the unit said: “This was a premeditated and calculated fraud on a public body which was conducted over a prolonged period.
“He exploited his expert knowledge of systems in place at Ofcom in order to steal in excess of half a million pounds. This sentence will hopefully serve as a deterrent to others who are similarly tempted to abuse their positions of responsibility. ”
Earlier this year, a data expert at Sainsbury’s was jailed for 20 months after being found guilty of scamming the supermarket chain out of nearly £75,000 worth of Nectar points.

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