AMATEUR SLEUTH BLASTS COURT AS BANK CASHIER WHO STOLE CASH AVOIDS JAIL

• Jan Olivier took pensioners' deposits to pay for £30,000 of gambling debts
• Jacqueline Greenslade caught him after investigating her father's finances
• She blasted Bournemouth Crown Court after it failed to jail the cashier

A trusted bank cashier who stole thousands of pounds from elderly customers in Dorset was caught when one died and his grieving daughter turned detective.

Jacqueline Greenslade has blasted Bournemouth Crown Court for not jailing Jan Olivier, who worked at Halifax for 17 years and took pensioners' deposits to pay £30,000 of gambling debts before replacing it with money from dormant accounts to cover his tracks.

But he was caught after customer Edward Teggin, 89, Ms Greenslade's father, was knocked down and killed by a car in June 2022.

After his death, his daughter looked into his will and bank statements and spotted strange discrepancies where Olivier had taken £5,000 from the great-grandfather's account and transferred it to another customer's account that he had stolen from.

When the cashier was finally found out and suspended he was so ashamed he did not tell his wife and instead pretended to go to work every day for six months.

Olivier was spared jail after the court heard he has since paid the missing money back and is getting help for his gambling and debts.

He admitted four counts of fraud and one offence under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act. 

Speaking after the sentencing Ms Greenslade, who is in her 60s, said he should be in prison.

'It's absolutely despicable, I cannot put it into words. There is no justice,' she said.

'He [Mr Teggin] was very careful with his money, he looked after it. He would have been turning in his grave if he knew what was going on.

'I'd like them to have thrown the book at him and him had time in prison to think about what he's done to elderly people.'

Mrs Greenslade went to the Olivier's Halifax branch in Poole, Dorset, for an explanation and this triggered an investigation which uncovered several further cases of fraud, totalling roughly £17,000.

Roderick Belin, prosecuting, told the court that CCTV footage showed a customer aged in her 80s withdraw £200 from the bank on July 5, 2022.

A short time later a second withdrawal of £2,500 was made, but not by the customer.

Four days later Olivier withdrew the same amount from a dormant account and used this to replace the money he had stolen. He then got approval from the branch manager to replace the funds from the second account.

When the manager tried to ring the customer to explain the credited money he could not get through. Investigators later found Olivier had changed her phone number on her bank profile so she could not be contacted.

A similar incident was unearthed on November 9, 2021, when two withdrawals were made from a customer's account, one legitimate and one not.

The defendant paid £1,000 into his own account the following day but returned it to the customer two weeks later.

On March 20, 2022, £5,000 was taken from another elderly customer and another £4,000 taken six weeks later. After another few days, large sums were deposited to Olivier's account.

On April 26, £9,000 was credited to the customer so her account showed no loss and on the same day £5,000 was taken from Mr Teggin's and transferred to another customer Olivier had stolen from.

Mrs Greenslade told the court: 'My dad was so trusting especially with Halifax. I feel so let down by them. They should have looked after my elderly dad and his money. He was very careful with his money and always looking at how much he had.

'Dad had lots of friends and regularly walked into town. We found it very hard that his so-called friend took from him. He did not deserve to be treated like this.

'Dad would have been very upset to know that someone he trusted would do something so evil. It is very hurtful and heartbreaking that someone he trusted could do this to him and his family.'

Robert Grey, defending Olivier, told the court he was a man of previous good character who had moved to England from South Africa in 2003, adding he was now getting help for his gambling and debts.

Recorder Eleanor Hourigan said because Olivier had paid the money back and shown genuine remorse he avoided a prison sentence.

She gave Olivier, of Ferndown, a 24-month community order with 180 hours of unpaid work, 15 rehabilitation activity days and 12 mental health treatment sessions.

He was also ordered to pay £2,284 compensation to Halifax.

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2024-06-27T12:44:56Z dg43tfdfdgfd