FRAUDSTER INVOLVED IN JETSETTING To spend £40,000 on luxurious vacations, spa treatments, and hair extensions, this film producer was spared jail time.
Online advertising agency Casual Films was duped by Natalie Tither, who admitted to defrauding the company.
Today, a film producer who stole £40,000 from a production firm and spent it on luxury vacations, spa treatments, and hair extensions wept as she was acquitted of a charge of fraud.
Natalie Tither, a 30-year-old employee of Casual Films, a company that creates internet ads for Nestle, Barclays, and Samsung, exploited a company credit card while working there.
In addition to buying presents and vacations, she used the card to post Facebook selfies from exotic locations such as a sand-drenched beach and Rome’s Colosseum.
A court heard that she used the company credit card to pay for 322 Uber rides, as well as clothes and nights out with pals.
Additionally, she bought herself furniture with the card and had it shipped to her new residence at the company’s expense.
The court granted her a suspended sentence and said, “Your professional future in the film industry, one would suppose, will be gone.” She wept in the dock today.
Her scam was estimated at between £60,000 and £70,000 during a previous court hearing.
Between January and November of 2016, Tither went on a shopping spree that netted her roughly $36,000; she was guilty of fraud by abuse of position.
A lot more, according to prosecutors: at least £46,000 on the card and an additional £10,000 on taxis and other frivolous expenses.
Both sides agreed to a settlement price of £40,000 today in a last-minute compromise.
Before her conviction, her former boss Nick Francis, the founder of award-winning Casual Films, said in court that Tither’s deception had led him to lay off employees.
He retorted, ” “While she was one of our highest-paid employees, Miss Tither went on to lie and steal for her benefit.
“Lie after lie: she lied to our face to face, over the phone, via email, and even on our online vacation booking system.
One selfish guy has ruined a lot of hard work put in by many people.
Babatunde Alabi stated Tither was given a credit card to pay for props, travel, and lodging costs.
When she claimed to have taken an Uber to a meeting with PwC, the scam was discovered.
When the company checked its records, it discovered that she had made hundreds of previous trips without permission, most of which were to her South London residence in Brixton.
She also drew hundreds of dollars from her bank account while on vacation.
‘She was off sick leave from October 13 to 21 and spent £1,600 on the business credit card,’ said Mr. Alabi.
The court heard that she used the card while on vacation in Italy.
Defense attorney Amiot Vollenweider said that because Tither’s coworkers were “using personal taxis after work” to bring props and other business property home, she “began by taking personal taxis.”
Because she was in a “wonderful connection” with a man and didn’t want it to end, the barrister argued, Tither began spending on the credit card.
“You purchased things and vacations, for yourself and Nick Tanda,” according to the accusation, but the exact nature of the relationship between Tither and Mr. Tanda was not stated.
Based in Canonbury’s Shepperton Road, Casual Films has won honors for its work with Friends of the Earth, PwC, and Rolls-Royce. It has also worked with Nestlé, Ernst & Young, Barclays, and Samsung.
Since the news of the fraud allegation broke, Tither appears to have erased her Facebook page, which contained a series of vacation images.
Attorney Kirsten Marenah stated in a prior hearing that the allegations concern the defendant’s alleged misuse of an employee credit card. Between £60,000 and £70,000 is said to be the claimed total.”
Tither’s legal team, on the other hand, estimates that the fraud may have an actual worth of up to £50,000.
At Tither’s sentence hearing Paul Rattigan, the prosecutor stated that a firm director and accountants will “present material about misuse in the area of £70,000.”.
He said this could still be a matter of discussion between the defense and the Crown.
It was acknowledged by Mr. Rattigan that some of the transactions made with the company card were for “legitimate use” and that more time was needed to decide the basis on which the defendant should be jailed.
“Further conversations between the police, the company, and CPS” are expected.
According to him, “The defense case at this point is that some of the entries on this schedule correspond to lawful expenditure.”