By IANS
London : A postwoman of Indian origin, who was due to travel to India to get married, has been sentenced to 12 months in jail for making false overtime claims while working for the Royal Mail.
The false overtime claims filed by Mandish Kaur, 22, amounted to 40,461 pounds, the Nottingham Crown Court was told. Kaur, who was working in the Royal Mail centre in Beeston in the east Midlands, wept as the sentence was pronounced in court last week.
Between December 2004 and November 2006, Kaur filled overtime forms for weekends that she had not worked, claiming a total of 40,461 pounds. When challenged by company officials in November, she denied it, but filed another false claim soon after.
Reports from Nottingham said that Kaur, who started working for the Royal Mail in October 2004, was eventually sacked in April this year. She told that police that she had spent all the money. She was due to fly to India to get married in November.
Sentencing Kaur, Judge Philip Head, said: “The fact that you have made arrangements to go to India and get married after you were exposed indicates to me that you simply do not understand how serious what you have done is.”
A spokesman for the Royal Mail said: “Royal Mail has changed its procedures for claiming overtime and it was as a result of these changes that this fraud came to light. We have a zero-tolerance approach to any dishonesty and that stance is shared by the overwhelming majority of postmen and women.”