A council IT boss who defrauded Vodafone out of £724,000 has been jailed for three years.
Steven Topham, 36, from Park End, Middlesbrough, manipulated the firm’s credit system to order more than 1,700 high-end handsets, most of which were sold on.
When police arrested him last year, they found £15,500 in the boot of the Redcar and Cleveland Council employee’s car.
Vodafone offers customers credit for making purchases and Topham realised if he made orders for the council but quickly cancelled them, the credits were not immediately recovered, Teesside Crown Court heard.
He used the built-up credit to buy iPhones, Samsung Galaxies and BlackBerries.
Topham had admitted fraud by abuse of position and converting criminal property at an earlier hearing.
