A former employee of Hadeed Motors has been sentenced to five years in prison for stealing a vehicle and falsifying company records to cover up the crime.
Dylan Simon, who worked for more than 20 years as a clerk and sales representative at the dealership, was sentenced by Justice Stanley John on six counts, including electronic forgery, larceny by a clerk and money laundering. The sentences, ranging from six months to five years, will run concurrently.
The court heard that Simon used his access to the company’s computer system to create a fictitious sale of a Suzuki Vitara. He entered false customer details, fabricated a cheque payment and completed exit documents before driving the $80,000 vehicle off the compound. He also collected commission on the bogus sale.
He later sold the vehicle to a used car dealer for $55,000, receiving $23,000 in cash and another vehicle valued at $22,000.
The fraud was uncovered during an internal audit in May 2020 after the Covid-19 lockdown, which revealed discrepancies in transactions Simon had handled.
Simon claimed other staff had access to his computer and alleged the company had framed him over unpaid wages. However, an auditor called by the defence produced a report confirming Simon had carried out the fraud.
It is the second time he has been convicted of a similar offence at the same company. He was previously fined $100,000 for electronic forgery involving another vehicle.
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Regular self audit by the management at Hadeed would have uncovered this fraudulent practice years earlier.
Antigua & Barbuda now needs to get up to speed with these company practices immediately, so that when independent audits eventually takes place, auditors can not only witness that company procedures were followed, but also fraudulent behaviour as well.
Simple really…
I can guarantee you that one of the reasons why some public sector outlets, private sector companies; and our Parliamentary servants hate transparency because of what will be discovered – and probably going on for decades!!!
This fraudulent behavior is probably only the tip of the iceberg…