Agency worker fraudster admits £300,000 scam targeting Scottish produce firm
Kamil Mielczarek conned bosses at agricultural firm East Lothian Produce into believing that the company was employing the agency workers by forging fake timesheets and invoices.
Mielczarek, 43, induced the company to pay out the massive amount of cash in wages for the bogus employees in a crooked scheme that lasted more than three years.
The Polish national, of Pilton Place, Edinburgh, siphoned all the money from the firm, which is based on the outskirts of Haddington, and had it paid into several of his own bank accounts.
Mielczarek pleaded guilty to obtaining £300,000 from the company by fraud when he appeared in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
Sheriff Charles Walls was told that prosecutors were preparing a written narration into the details of the offence that would be read out in open court at the next calling of the case.
Fiscal depute Eilidh Grant said that the Crown was accepting the guilty plea after agreeing to amend the figure down from the original sum of £819,500.
Sheriff Walls told Mielczarek: “I am going to defer sentence for the preparation of a criminal justice social work report.
“The figure in the indictment has been amended and as a result of that I will continue your bail.
“But you must understand that this is a very significant offence and all sentencing options are available to me when you return to court.”
Mielczarek admitted to pretending various agency staff worked at East Lothian Produce, presenting timesheets and invoices, and inducing the firm to pay wages of £300,000 into bank accounts he had control over, and obtaining the money by fraud between January 2, 2021, and February 25, 2024.
Co-accused Viktorija Lukjanova, a Latvian national, was jailed for her part in the fake worker scam when she appeared at the Capital court earlier this year
Lukjanova, 36, also forged timesheets and invoices to defraud her employers out of £550,000 over a three-year period.
Lukjanova, of Ormiston, used the names of family members to convince bosses of the existence of the fake employees before the “sophisticated” scheme was uncovered.
Sheriff Graeme Watson told the mother of two that her offending had been aggravated by the “high level of planning” that had gone into the crime and jailed her for two years.
Sheriff Watson said: “By this fraud, you obtained over half a million pounds from your employer.
“You were placed in a position of trust and you abused that trust.
“There is very little explanation as to why you committed this fraud or what you did with the proceeds.”
Defence advocate Jonathan Campbell told the court that his client committed the offence due to “financial difficulties” and that “matters had spiralled” out of control before she could stop.
Mr Campbell said: “From the outset, Ms Lukjanova realises this is a serious offence and recognises the impact this has had on the family company that employed her.
“Ms Lukjanova takes full responsibility for the offence and recognises the damage she has caused.”
East Lothian Produce is a family-owned vegetable processing, packing and marketing business that supplies customers throughout Europe and is based on the outskirts of Haddington.
Head of Investigations
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
