School trip swindles
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THE OWNER of a struggling mini bus company swindled the Greater London Council out of nearly £1500 with school bus journeys that never took place.
Kevin White (35) of Leyton, London, admitted the fraud to Waltham Forest magistrates on Thursday.
Police told the court that White, as owner of the KJY coach hire company, was under contract to the GLC to supply transport for about 20 schools.
But the company ran into trouble, with coaches breaking down and staff not turning up for work, and White began charging for non-existent journeys.
"There was nothing clever or shrewd about his methods," said Detective Sergeant David Thaim. "If the GLC had examined the claims carefully the frauds would have been spotted earlier."
These methods included forging a signature, altering the number of journeys on the claim form, and crossing out teachers' comments about buses not arriving.
He faced two charges of obtaining money by deception and two more of attempting to do so, but asked for another 15 similar charges to be taken into account.
White agreed to a 180 hours community service order, but the magistrates referred the question of compensation to another court.