Serial fraudster sentenced for defrauding ATOC

A former employee of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has been sentenced for defrauding the body of thousands on same day after she pleaded not guilty to doing the same thing to her last two employers.

Lorna Snelling, aged 40 of Jasmine Road, Rush Green, Romford was sentenced to eighteen months suspended for two years today, Monday 6 March 2017, at the Old Bailey following an investigation by the City of London Police’s fraud teams.

She was also ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £20k compensation. She earlier pleaded guilty at Old Bailey on the 21 October 2016.

Snelling was employed by ATOC during 2015 as their Transaction Manager, a role that enabled her to access the organisations accounting system to authorise payments.

Snelling was already being investigated for suspected fraud relating to her two previous employers, Berkeley Homes and Beazley insurance and on the 5th February 2016 she was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, for eight counts of fraud by abuse of position after she stole a total of £21k from them.

On the day of her first appearance for the earlier case  she pleaded not guilty at City of  London Magistrates Court to stealing from either employer and after court she walked into Lloyds Bank on Cheapside and cashed a forged ATOC cheque valuing £16k into her bank account.

Snelling left ATOC in August 2015 and the organisation later uncovered that she had paid cheques into her personal accounts totalling £21k. She had done this by forging the signatures of account holders a method she had used at her two previous employers.

ATOC then referred the case to the City of London Police and an investigation began.

Investigating officer, Detectives Constable Paula Doyle said -
“Snelling is a serial thief who has used her employers as an opportunity to steal money.

“The fact she cashed a stolen cheque from ATOC on the same day she pleaded not guilty to stealing money from her previous two employer’s shows just how dishonest she is.‘’