- Manish Patel, 57, filed ten fake ‘delay repay’ claims a day to Transport for London
- Patel, of Thornton Heath in South London, pocketed £14,987 in total since 2015
- Slapped with two-year suspended sentence, fines and 200 hours of unpaid work
A conman made £15,000 from 2,000 fake claims for late trains, a court heard.
Manish Patel, 57, filed up to ten fake ‘delay repay’ claims a day to Transport for London (TfL) after realising compensation was paid quickly.
From March 2015, Patel started making one or two claims a day then grew ‘more and more confident’, Blackfriars Crown Court was told.
Conman Manish Patel, 57, made £15,000 from 2,000 fake claims for late trains over the internet
But in July, he was caught by the British Transport Police cyber crime unit and confessed to fraud by false representation.
The court heard this week how Patel, of Thornton Heath in South London, had pocketed £14,987 in total.
He received a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to repay the claim money and stump up £420 in prosecution costs. He must also complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
Patel grew more and more confident with each successful claim but in July, he was caught by the British Transport Police cyber crime unit and confessed to fraud by false representation
Detective Constable Mark Pink said: ‘After two years of making fake claims, Patel’s luck finally ran out. He will now have to repay the £15,000 he fraudulently claimed from TfL, so let’s hope he hasn’t spent it all. If he fails to do so, he could face time in jail.
‘Fraud cases such as this may appear to be victimless, however, they can have a big impact on the rail industry.
‘The £15,000 he claimed could have otherwise been spent investing to improve the transport network for the travelling public.’