UK: Hotel manager jailed for illegally using customer’s credit card; Bere has other fraud convictions going back to 2005

By UK Media

SCOTLAND: A hotel manager has been jailed after using a customer’s credit card to buy train tickets.

Blessing Bere, from Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court on Tuesday, February 11.

The 49-year-old was sentenced to one year in prison following a British Transport Police investigation.

Detective Constable (DC) Kristene Lawrence said: “Bere was in a position of trust at the hotel where he worked and customers believed that their credit card details were safe when they handed them over.

“However Bere chose to use this information fraudulently and for his own gain. Ultimately he has paid a hefty price – a criminal record, a prison sentence and unemployment,” he said.

“It’s safe to say that crime really doesn’t pay.”

Bere’s sentencing came after a customer who had stayed overnight at the Surrey hotel where he was night manager noticed a transaction on his card paying for train tickets and contacted LNER customer service.

LNER contacted its fraud department which marked the ticket numbers, due to be used on May 6, 2022, as being fraudulent.

When Bere presented the tickets on a journey from London to Edinburgh the number immediately flagged the tickets as being suspicious and a fraud alert.

The Revenue Protection Officer asked that Bere leave the train at Doncaster so further enquiries could be made.

Offered no explanation

He was met at the station by a BTP officers who said Bere seemed flustered and offered no explanation as to how the tickets were purchased.

Further investigations showed that Bere had attempted to purchase a number of LNER tickets using different cards and he was subsequently arrested.

Officers searched Bere and found items including several credit card authorisation forms for the hotel with customers’ credit card and personal details recorded on them.

Detectives contacted the banks relating to the card details found and discovered Bere had made charges to another customer’s account totalling almost £250.

Peter Craggs, senior fraud prevention manager at LNER, said: “We take all reports of fraud incredibly seriously and collaborate closely with BTP to protect the public.

“Identifying those people abusing the system and ensuring they cannot use our services to profit from their crime is key to our approach,” he added.

“We’re pleased that the teamwork embodied by our fraud prevention, customer service and onboard teams, together with our colleagues at BTP, has led to justice being served.”

Prior Convictions

The latest sentencing is not Bere’s frist brush with the law.

In 2010, while working as a finance assistant with Bradford Council, Bere pleaded guilty to one charge of fraud and two of attempted fraud after fraudulently claiming money for work he had not done.

He was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court to a 12-months community order, with 200 hours of unpaid work.

The court, at the time, head that Bere had previous convictions in 2005 for house burglary and theft, when he stole from the rooms of residents while working in a residential care home.