A charity worker who swindled disabled Londoners out of more than £500,000 by funnelling their money into his own bank account has been jailed for five years.
Graham Broomfield, 54, handled direct payments for Chingford-based charity Reaching Out East, which helped disabled and socially isolated Waltham Forest residents by organising their finances as well as providing advice on health, social care and welfare.
But Broomfield, who was hired as an IT contractor before taking charge of its payments service, defrauded at least 95 vulnerable people between 2016 and last year by making transfers into his own bank account to steal a total of £550,744.
Snaresbrook Crown Court heard he disguised the payments to avoid detection, but was caught out in March last year when a colleague noticed three suspicious transactions and a joint investigation was launched by police and Waltham Forest council’s corporate anti-fraud team.
The council paid back service users who lost money and Broomfield, from Harlow, was charged with fraud by abuse of position. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years on Friday.
The charity reviewed its finances after the fraud but was declared solvent and able to continue operating.
Detective Sergeant Gemma Cole, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said Broomfield’s fraud was “contemptible” and his assets have been frozen in a bid to recover money.
