Debt collector poaches money from clients to resolve debt
An exasperated debt collector stole money from his clients in a desperate bid to settle his own outstanding debt.
Richard Louis altered the prices that customers paid him on his weekly debt collection visits and pocketed the difference. He even stole £735 from another credit collection company who were paying him to collect money on their behalf.
The 50 year old debt collector, turned red with embarrassment after admitting that he had fallen into the red himself and admitted to charges of false accounting and theft.
Mr Louis pocketed a staggering £250 from one man’s repayments and altered the books to make it look as though the customer had only been able to pay £99.85. He also creamed off lots of small £10 payments from other client’s and thought that these small discrepancies would go unnoticed. All the while, he was headed toward bankruptcy himself.
Mr Louis’s solicitor explained that his client had been going through a bad time with a divorce and two sons to support. He was earning very little money from a commission based job that involved long hours. As a result, he had accrued a large amount of debt. He explained that his client often had to drive up to 250 miles per day to reach customers and would use the money to pay off debt, buy petrol and cover day to day living expenses. He never spent the money on luxuries.
Mr Louis has been charged with 100 hours community service and has to pay back the £735.65 that he stole from Greenwood Personal Credit.
Finance News posted on 29/10/2007 14:29:13
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