Jailed PO boss who stole £400k, then faked being mute

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Jailed: Droylsden post office boss who stole £400k, then faked being mute for a year


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A post office boss caught stealing more than £400,000 from work pretended he could not talk for more than A YEAR in a desperate bid to avoid jail.

Deeply-religious Amritpal Mehat, 26, claimed God had struck him dumb after he was arrested. The charade ended when he was ordered into a mental health unit while on remand and began chatting to a psychologist in his native Punjabi tongue. The conversation was revealed during a trial of issue at crown court, when a jury unanimously decided he had been ‘mute by malice’ rather than mute by ‘visitation of God’.

Mehat spoke publicly for the first time since his arrest when he appeared at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, confirming his name and guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to steal from the Post Office and theft from the Post Office.

Judge Bernard Lever sentenced him to four years in jail. He said: "This was a wicked deception. You have had the crown jumping through forensic hoops for two years. A large number of experts were called to examine you at vast public expense. I ordered you to hospital for a month where you were unable to maintain your silence, though you had a good go."

Mehat stole the cash from Droylsden Post Office, Tameside, between November 2008 and January 2009. The court heard he did it to stave off disaster for his family business, which included other Post Office franchises in Denton and Sale. A loan of almost £1.4m was being called in by a bank and a last-gasp £2.9m venture to buy a hotel and convert it into a health spa was floundering, it was said. Mehat, who was company secretary, stole £408,000 by falsifying accounts but used the computer user-name and password of employee Jacqueline Rigby to deflect blame. The judge said this was ‘an ugly feature’ of the case.

The court had been told Mehat was caught after an audit of accounts in early January 2009. Investigators realised somebody else had used Mrs Rigby’s password and details, but she became so traumatised she could no longer face work and left.

Although Mehat drove a high-performance Mini, had a personal number plate AMR 17M and owned an expensive watch, the court was told there was little evidence of high living. Of the money taken, £170,000 was recovered from an Alliance and Leicester account the family had. Michael Rawlison, defending, said at the time of thefts, ‘the walls had been closing in’ and the calling in of the loan had been the final straw. He said: "It has taken him a long time to come to terms with it. He has been searching for a way to come to terms with what he has done. It is most unfortunate that it took him so long to plead guilty, and he has brought great shame on his family." The court was told there was no suggestion his family knew what was going on. Mehat, of Totley Hall Croft, Sheffield, was earlier ordered to repay a sum of £100,000 to the Post Office within six months.

[Lounge Lizard]

But does Judge Bernard Lever ever get mistaken for Bernard Levin ?

[R@YAL F@IL]

STOLE £408K ....... Police reclaimed £117K the Judge ordered him to repay £100K ................. WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER £191K

[Red Robbo]

STOLE £408K ....... Police reclaimed £117K the Judge ordered him to repay £100K ................. WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER £191K

Good Point, but being deeply religious the church probably had 10% of his earnings, maybe knock on their door ?

[fishtank]

Thief and a liar....deeply religious.

[REDLETTER]

Wonder if this is his house!

Offers in region of £575,000
5 bedroom detached house for sale
10, Totley Hall Croft, Totley, Sheffield S17 4BE

Just found out he lived down the road! House worth £734,157

[stokes11eg]

Oh how I wish our Bosses would remain mute!

[Lounge Lizard]

Wonder if this is his house!

Offers in region of £575,000
5 bedroom detached house for sale
10, Totley Hall Croft, Totley, Sheffield S17 4BE

Just found out he lived down the road! House worth £734,157

Many of us could probably buy a house like that if we were deeply religious and didn't spend our wages on alcohol, tobacco, women and gambling.