A former HSBC bank employee who leaked the details of three customers to criminals, leading to thefts adding up to £67,000, was jailed for 18 months.
Liberty Staph, 27, worked at the contact centre for a central London HSBC branch and for each theft had interacted with the victim shortly before and received a payment in her account a few days after.
Staph supplied confidential information used to control who could access the accounts to criminals in exchange for a total of £8,000. The criminals then diverted the stolen money into the account of another 21-year-old defendant, Adam Chelfat.
Chelfat, who has pleaded guilty to money laundering, withdrew the sums as cash or foreign currency within a couple of days before passing it on to someone else.
Detective Constable Mark Cresswell said: "Staph abused her position to fraudulently obtain money from HSBC customers who she was supposed to be helping. Her criminal actions were uncovered thanks to a comprehensive internal investigation by HSBC.
"The prison sentence received by Staph should act as a deterrent to any other bank employees considering any similar actions."
More recent west London news
All three victims have now been fully refunded by the bank.
Detectives from the Met's Fraud and Linked Crime Online (FALCON) unit started investigating in March 2016 and both defendants were finally sentenced on September 27 at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
Staph, who lived on Broadley Street, Marylebone, received 18 months in prison and Chelfat of Albion Avenue, south west London, received a six month sentence, suspended for 18 months. He must also carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
