Ticket office clerk turned fraudster jailed for three years - London

A fraudster who abused his position as a ticket office clerk has been sentenced to three years imprisonment following a “complex investigation”.

Mohammed Rahman, 29, and of Ainsworth Way, London, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 26 August.

On Monday 9 November, a judge at Inner London Crown Court sentenced him to three years in prison. He is also required to pay a victim surcharge of £170.

Over a 13-month period – between September 2017 and November 2018 – while working for Govia Thameslink Railway as a ticket office clerk at Cricklewood station, Rahman hacked the rail company’s computer system for personal financial gain.

Rahman conducted sophisticated manual overrides to circumvent the ticket machine’s safeguarding measures utilising his specialist training. This fooled the system to produce replacement tickets, despite there being no original ticket or customer that required a replacement.  

As a result of his fraudulent activity, Rahman caused £277,000 of revenue loss to his then-employers – Govia Thameslink Railway.

Rahman was observed on CCTV operating the cash register with no customers present at the service window. This occurred five times on 31 August 2018 and the time of his activity corresponded to a list of fraudulent transactions.

A review of the ticket office’s activity took place to identify the full extent of this fraud which unearthed £277,000 worth of activity.

In a British Transport Police (BTP) interview, Rahman responded “no comment” to all questions so the matter was put to proof.

BTP’s successful investigation into Rahman’s fraudulent activity resulted in him being arrested, and subsequently charged, for fraud by abuse of position.

BTP Sergeant, Tarrick Patrick, said: “Rahman’s criminality spanned more than a year and resulted in significant financial loss for Govia Thameslink Railway.

“He used his position of trust to hack his employer’s system and steal £277,000 worth of tickets in a shameless act of fraud – greedily getting ever-more emboldened as time went on. This boldness ultimately led to Rahman coming to notice and being the author of his own demise.

“The sentence passed by the court is reflective of the trust Rahman abused and the revenue lost by Govia Thameslink Railway.

“This was a complex investigation that pulled on a number of specialist departments, namely the financial investigation unit, and I would like to say thank you to all involved in bringing this case to court.”