Bank worker stole £318k from customers to feed gambling habit

Wayne Andrew Keane, last of 75, Norfolk Road, stole 318,000 to pay off part of a 473,976 gambling debt and was declared bankrupt by the Insolvency Service on June 26.

Due to his "reckless behaviour" in the period leading up to the order being made, the Insolvency Service imposed a 10-year restriction on him '“ meaning for that period of time he cannot obtain more than 500-worth of credit without declaring his bankuptcy.

The usual length of restriction is one year.

Keane, who operated at Barclays branches around the Littlehampton area, appeared before Chichester magistrates in February charged with the offences.

He pleaded guilty to eight counts of obtaining money transfers by deception and one count of obtaining property by deception.

He was sentenced to 51 weeks in prison, a term which was suspended for two years, and given 160 hours' unpaid work.

Barclays refunded those customers who had lost money.

Danny Reardon, a spokesman for Barclays, said: "Barclays spends a great deal of time and money protecting the interests of our customers and ourselves against the actions of would-be fraudsters. No priority comes higher.

"Customers should be reassured that if they fall victim to fraud on their account, they are protected under the Banking Code and won't suffer financial loss as a result.

"We employ 60,000 people in the UK and staff fraud is rare. However, it is something that can happen in any organisation, no matter how stringent the vetting procedures are. We are alive to the possibility, take steps to minimise the risk and detect it quickly if it happens.

"We have a zero tolerance policy towards staff fraud. Where any employee involvement is suspected, individuals will be suspended, investigated and where there is evidence of misconduct, dismissed.

"We always provide every assistance to the police to enable them to prosecute suspected fraudsters, whether internal or external."