Employee jailed for processing fake invoices totalling almost £670,000

An employee of a City of London company, who processed fake invoices for payment totalling almost £670,000, has been jailed.

Shazeb Iqbal, 23, of Monarch Way, Newbury Park, Ilford, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, on Monday 23 August 2021 at Inner London Crown Court, for conspiracy to defraud. He had previously pleaded guilty at the same court on Tuesday 19 November 2019.

Iqbal processed 29 fake invoices between July and August 2017 which appeared to come from the personal assistant to the CEO of his employer – a company in the City of London.

The fake invoices, which purported to be from various companies, totalled £668,000.

Temporary Detective Sergeant Darren Norton, from the City of London Police, said:

“This was a shameless and ludicrous attempt by an employee to defraud his employer out of a substantial amount of money. This is a great result and reflects that cases like this will be pursued by law enforcement. We will continue to work tirelessly to bring fraudsters to justice.”

The company conducted an internal investigation and discovered that all of the fake invoices were processed instantly by Iqbal. This was flagged as suspicious as most invoices were not usually processed until hours, or even days, after being received.

The company reported Iqbal to the City of London Police and he was arrested on Thursday 7 September 2017.

In his police interview, Iqbal denied all knowledge of the fake invoices and maintained that the speed at which he processed them was because he was a very efficient worker.

A search of a computer seized from Iqbal’s home uncovered a copy of a fake invoice that had similar features to those he processed between July and August 2017.