An employee of Caja Rural in Granada has been given a 2-year prison sentence and a 1,620-euro fine for misappropriating a customer’s cheque. The sentence could have been stiffer, but he confessed to the deed and thus avoided a trial.

It was during his duties as the branch auditor that he came across a cheque for 10,1145 euros that hadn’t been cashed… so he decided to cash it in his own favour – sneaky!

It was January 2009 when Victoriano José V.G. came across the succulent temptation in the Albaicín branch of Caja Rural de Granada where he worked. The cheque had been issued on the 24th of December, 2002. The owner of the account had made the cheque out to himself for just over 10,000 euros for his other account in Banco Santander.

Using privileged access to account information ‘Victoriano the Vanquished’ made sure that the cheque could be cashed, and in his favour using a false name and DNI. One month later he used the occasion to carry out auditing in another branch (Guadahortuna) to actually cash it. Thanks to his post as auditor, he had access to the cash deposits in the branch.

Two things led to his downfall: firstly, the owner of the cheque found out that the money never reached his other account, even though it disappeared from his Caja Rural one, and secondly, the false documentation that Victoriano generated, triggered off an alarm in Hacienda because the name and DNI didn’t match.

(News: Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)