Gambling boss stole resident’s
savings

Imran Ahmed was jailed for three years at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday after admitting stealing the money from a current account belonging to Audrey Green, a resident in her 70s at the Lilac House Care Home in Beeston, Nottingham, which he managed.

Ahmed, 39, used the money to fund “a double life” of gambling, the court heard.

The father-of-two would lose hundreds of pounds at casinos and at the races but his family were unaware of his addiction as he would lie to his wife about where he was going and was secretive about his financial affairs, the court heard.

Ahmed was well thought of in the nursing profession, having obtained his diploma in 1997, but the court heard he had begun gambling at university and it had become “a pathological addiction” which drove him to steal the money from the widow’s account.

He made cash withdrawals from ATMs using Mrs Green’s debit card which was kept, along with her personal identification number, in a safe at the care home which was owned by his family, the court heard.

Prosecuting, Esther Harrison said Ahmed would use the card to take between £150 and £300 out at a time from an ATM and sometimes make more than one withdrawal a day. Ahmed also stole the resident’s cheque book.

Mrs Harrison said he stole £58,000 in cash and some £43,000 in cheques over a five-year period from Mrs Green’s account.

The theft only came to light when the care home closed in 2011.

Mrs Green, now 80, was a “vulnerable woman” who “lacked confidence and was not financially aware,” the court was told.

But Ahmed, whose family address was not given out in court, was attracted by the thrill of the gambling lifestyle and being “with the high rollers,” the court heard.

In mitigation, Philip Bown said Ahmed was full of remorse and that gambling now “sickened” him. Ahmed apologised to Mrs Green’s family in the dock before he was taken down.