Council worker jailed for stealing half a million from care funds

A FINANCE officer with Haringey Council in London has been jailed for defrauding the council out of more than £440,000 (€611,000).

Ceyda Elkatme, 35, has been given a three and a half years in prison after taking part in a fraud and money laundering scam.

Ms Elkatme was a contractor working in the finance office at the time. She made fraudulent payments to seven accomplices for bogus adult care services.  She was arrested following an internal audit.  Within three months of being recruited, Elkatme put the names of relatives and friends into the payment system to receive fraudulent payments. 

She worked with her husband and others to launder thousands of pounds between them.  The money should have been used to provide care services for vulnerable adults in the London Borough.

Police Superintendent Amanda Dellar said: ¨This was a despicable crime where Elkatme abused her position as a finance officer to defraud Haringey Council out of well over £440,000 (€611,000) of what was effectively public money.¨