Crooked Barista Stole £4,000 Using Personal Bank Card Reader

A crooked barista fleeced bosses to the tune of £4,000 by accepting customer payments using his own card reader.

Brandon Leung, 26, of Ladbroke Grove, west London, admitted an offence of fraud by abuse of position when he appeared recently at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Fraud by abuse of position is an offence under section 4 of the Fraud Act 2006. It has a maximum sentence of 26 weeks' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 10 years' custody and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment.

Magistrates heard that Leung perpetrated the fraud during his employment at the Joe & the Juice coffee and smoothie bar on London's Buckingham Palace Road.

Over a period of months he used his own SUMUP card reader (aff. link) to accept payments from customers, thereby defrauding his employer of £4,016.20.

His scam was only discovered when he inadvertently overcharged a customer. Unable to refund her through official channels, he ended up withdrawing cash to cover the refund. The suspicious customer reported the incident to company bosses.

Leung admitted his crime and wrote a letter of apology to his employers.

Ellen Alexander, prosecuting, said: "He thought he could work out an agreement with the company to pay the money off.

"The offence was of a sophisticated nature.

"It was an abuse of position and power."

The court heard that Leung, who is clearly a tad dishonest, had a previous conviction for theft by employee.

Ruta Mikailaite, mitigating, told the court that her client had been demoted after making an advert for his online business. He was also in debt to the tune of £2,000.

Short of cash Leung seized upon the idea of using his own card reader to accept customer payments. According to Ms Mikailaite he had seen other senior members of staff doing the same thing.

Leung had offered to pay the money back, but the company had failed to take up the offer.

Magistrates were of the opinion that his offence was serious enough to merit a community order.

Leung was sentenced to a 12-month community order with the requirement that he completes 120 hours' unpaid work.

According to reports he was also fined £200 (which is a bit strange, given that unpaid work is usually considered the punitive element of the order).

Given his limited means the surcharge was reduced to zero and there was no award of prosecution costs.