A crooked banker who swindled £18,000 from a customer with dementia has been ordered to pay back just £1 under Proceeds of Crime legislation.
Stephen Barr was jailed for 13 months for deliberately targeting the 81-year-old because of his condition and cleaning out his bank account to clear his own debts.
The 38-year-old was working as a link manager for the Bank of Scotland when he handpicked Douglas Crumley – who has since died – to steal from.
Sheriff Gregor Murray said: “This appears to be a case where any recoverable amount appears to be a nominal sum.”
Fiscal depute Andrew Harding told Dundee Sheriff Court: “The Crown is seeking a nominal amount of £1.”
Sheriff Murray granted the motion and gave Barr 28 days to come up with the £1. He said: “Clearly the benefit is the amount stated in the joint minute, but the available amount can only be a nominal sum.”
The court was previously told that Barr had a “stellar” 13-year career in banking before fiddling thousands of pounds from Mr Crumley’s savings.
Sheriff Paul Brown told him: “This is a serious matter. It is so serious there is no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
Solicitor Gary Fowlis, defending, said: “He understands this was a significant breach of trust. He does not try to underplay matters in any way.
“He accepts responsibility. He definitely has to be punished but he might be extremely vulnerable in a custodial setting. He has a desire to reimburse the bank.
“The bank reimbursed the family of the complainer in full. He was in difficult circumstances and could not resist the temptation put before him.
“That was against a backdrop of a stellar career in the banking industry. He resigned his position, but would have been sacked. It’s something he will have to live with for the rest of his life.
“He tells me he thinks about this every day. A lot of people he called friends previously have disowned him. He has a very small group of friends.”
The court was told Barr had previously worked as a personal banking advisor and was employed as link bank manager in the city’s Fairmuir branch at the time of the offence.
Barr, who started working for the Bank of Scotland in 2005, used his brother’s Nationwide Bank account to obtain thousands of pounds from the pensioner.
Each staff member is given a log-in using a unique file number and all activity using that file number is logged on the bank’s computer system.
Mr Crumley became a customer in 2015 and used a current account for his pension income and general living costs, with no third-party access to his accounts.
Fiscal depute Joanne Ritchie said: “In January 2018, the accused’s brother was approached by the accused, who asked him if he could use one of his bank accounts.
“The accused alluded to being in considerable debt. His brother did not see this as unusual as he had approached him for loans and money many times before.
“He advised the accused that he had a Nationwide account that he was not using.”
Between March and April 2018, Mr Crumley – who was in the early stages of dementia – spoke with Barr about his financial affairs.
Barr added notes to Mr Crumley’s file stating the vulnerable customer was “becoming increasingly confused” with his accounts.
Concerns were first raised in May 2018 when investigators noticed a number of “faster payments” being made by Barr from one of Mr Crumley’s accounts.
Ms Ritchie said: “The staff file number used to make these payments was the same account the accused received his salary into.
“Douglas Crumley did not report these transactions as fraudulent. However, group investigators at Lloyds Banking Group [Bank of Scotland’s parent company] were aware that he was elderly and vulnerable and were concerned.”
Five payments totalling £10,550 were clocked as being suspicious. The court was told the Nationwide account was only 5 pence in credit before the first payment of £1,000 was made.
This was immediately withdrawn in cash. A number of ATM withdrawals were noted during an audit of Mr Crumley’s accounts, which were not in line with his spending habits. The withdrawals totalled £7,383 and took place at various machines in Dundee and Aberdeen.
A senior investigator established Barr withdrew or transferred £17,939.98 of Mr Crumley’s money between 8 March and 15 May 2018. Ms Ritchie said Barr was interviewed internally by bank investigators and chose to be unaccompanied.
“The accused stated he was in substantial debt owing to a break-up with an ex-partner, which amounted to over £30,000.
“He advised he had defaulted on some of these debts but had not discussed these issues with his manager due to being embarrassed.
“The accused stated Mr Crumley was a regular customer of his and he was aware he had dementia. He later stated he deliberately targeted Mr Crumley due to his vulnerability.
“He said he felt awful and made mention of taking his own life.”
Prior to his death, Mr Crumley was refunded by the bank after attending a meeting where he confirmed he did not authorise the transfers.
Barr, of Summerfield Place, Aberdeen, pled guilty to forming a fraudulent scheme at the Bank of Scotland branch on Murraygate between March and May 2018.
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