July 18th 2023.
Manjit Singh, 60, was recently jailed after it was discovered that she had stolen nearly £1,000,000 from her employers at Lei Dat & Baig solicitors in Liverpool. The money was transferred to another account belonging to a man, Ravi Jani, whom she had met on a dating site.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Singh had been groomed by Jani after he promised to come to the UK to marry her. He asked for money in order to ship supposed work equipment from Dubai, where he claimed to be working. Though Singh had initially refused, she eventually relented.
Judge David Aubrey KC said in court that ‘not only were you a fraudster, you were also a victim of a fraud and what has rightly been called a romance fraud.’ He further noted that Singh had been ‘duped and were yourself subject of a classic online con.’
The court was made aware of Singh’s personal circumstances, which had made her ‘ripe for exploitation’. She had separated from her husband in 2019 and was battling cancer, leaving her unable to conceive. Her father, a police officer in her native Malaysia, had been shot.
Peter Killen, prosecuting, explained that Singh had joined the legal firm back in 2014 and had become a full-time employee by 2017. She had been trained to transfer money between client and office accounts and make payments under the supervision of owner Naeem Baig.
However, when Mr Baig inspected his business account, he was shocked to find the expected balance of £800,000 had dropped to £40,000. This was due to eight transactions of between £1,000 and £260,000 made in the past two weeks.
When interviewed by police, Singh admitted to having made the transfers. She said she had done so ‘thinking that I was helping someone and then I end up getting myself caught, thinking the money would come back to the account, you know, and all would be OK.’
The court heard that Singh’s employers had been reimbursed by their insurers, but had faced higher charges. Mr Baig had had to put forward his personal assets to guarantee payments and was now taking anti-depressants. Singh was given a two-year jail sentence.
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