Finance agent pcoket cash after taking out false loans

A FINANCE company agent made fraudulent loan applications in the names of some of her clients and kept the cash for herself.

Jan Maher, of Butteridge Avenue, Coventry, also collected money from customers but recorded lower amounts in their repayment books and pocketed the difference, a judge has heard.

The 43-year-old, who pocketed £15,000 while working for Provident Finance, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to charges of fraud and false accounting.

She was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for two years and was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and to pay £3,000 compensation.

Prosecutor Neil Bannister said Maher's job involved visiting customers and collecting their loan repayments.

But between January last year and February this year she recorded lesser amounts in her customer repayment books and collection lists, and pocketed the difference – a total of £4,784.

Over the same period Maher also made false loan applications in the names of existing customers to obtain a further £11,307.

Judge Marten Coates said she had acted out of greed, and told her: "You were thoroughly dishonest over a period of time."

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