Jason Kelly fraudulently ordered hundreds of pounds worth of parts for his car, his partner’s car and a car belonging to a friend from a Pentagon Nissan and Fiat car dealership in Huddersfield where he worked.
The 30-year-old falsified documents between May and August 2016 while working in a high position of trust for the company, Kirklees Magistrates Court heard.
Shamaila Qureshi, prosecuting, told magistrates the firm began investigating Kelly when he had four new tyres fitted to his Vauxhall Astra.
She said: “He ordered the tyres for his own vehicle and booked it against a Fiat 500 on the forecourt.
“The investigation found that he had work carried out on two further cars including MOTs and booked these against other cars on the forecourt but these parts were not fitted to the cars on the forecourt.”
Kelly also ordered new parts for his partner’s Mini and for a friends Volkswagen Golf, with paperwork showing these were needed for a Nissan Qashqai.
Denied fraud
The court also heard how Kelly used a company filing system to write off some of the costs where the work carried out could not be attributed to cars on the forecourt.
The company suspended Kelly pending disciplinary action but he resigned while the investigation was being carried out.
Mrs Qureshi said: “He stated that the service manager sanctioned his actions as the value of the parts were equal to bonus payments but the manager confirmed that no such authority was given as bonuses were made by cheque and not in this way.”
Kelly denied fraud and his case was listed for trial last week, which he failed to turn up for.
Convicted
All six witnesses, his colleagues, attended for the hearing and a district judge found the case proved and convicted him of fraud in his absence.
The total losses to the company was £760 for the car parts and MOTs and an additional £850 for labour.
Mrs Qureshi said: “This happened over a three month period and, as he was in charge of making such decisions in that company, this was why it was not questioned for a while.
“He abused that position of trust and power that the company put him in charge of and there was an element of planning involved in respect of his actions.”
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