Sue Patten, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Central Fraud Division, said: “Jessica Harper has today been convicted of the type of crime the bank employed her to combat. The evidence in the case was clear and left Harper with little choice but to plead guilty. In doing so, she has admitted to a huge breach of trust against her former employer.
“Harper was expected to safeguard the financial interests of the bank. Instead, she submitted false invoices totalling more that £2.4m over a period of four years. She has also pleaded guilty to laundering the funds of the fraud.”
Harper pleaded guilty to two charges: one count of fraud by abuse of position contrary to the Fraud Act 2006 relating to false invoice payments totalling £2,463,750.88 between December 2007 and December 2011; and one count of concealing, disguising, converting, transferring, or removing criminal property contrary to section 327 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, between 18 February 2008 and 21 December 2011.
She will be sentenced on 21 September 2012.
