Desperate Mansfield drug addict stole £8k after accessing employer’s online banking app

Jonathan Topliss observed his boss entering a 4-digit security pin and later used it to make several transfers into his own account.

The 37-year-old was arrested after the fraudulent transactions were discovered in March last year.

In a police interview, he admitted taking the money and using it to pay off substantial drug debts.

He went on to plead guilty to fraud by false representation and was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday, January 7.

The hearing was told Topliss was hired by a self-employed roofer to undertake four days of work, starting on March 4, 2024.

During breaks, the pair sat in the roofer’s van and Topliss observed the roofer log into his online banking via a mobile phone app.

Topliss memorised the PIN number and took full advantage when the roofer left his phone unattended in the van.

The court heard he logged into the app and took down his banking details, before sending himself an activation code so that he could access the roofer’s bank account via his own device.

He subsequently transferred himself £8,335.10 across several transactions.

The roofer spotted the money transfers and confronted Topliss, who agreed to attend a police station to confess to his crime.

Asked by officers what happened to the money, Topliss – who has 12 previous convictions for 27 offences including theft – replied he had used it to pay off his drug debts.

He admitted spending up to £130 a day on crack cocaine and that he stole the money because he was desperate.

Topliss, of Robin Down Lane, Mansfield, was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

As part of his sentence, he must comply with an alcohol treatment requirement and was made subject of a four-month curfew.

He must also undertake 10 rehabilitation activity days and pay £1,000 court costs. The victim’s losses were reimbursed by his bank.

Sergeant James Smith, who oversaw the investigation, said: “This brazen deception had a significant impact on a local business that was left struggling to fill a hole in its finances.

“I am pleased that Topliss quickly owned up to his offending and that criminal proceedings have now come to an end.

“He must now pay the price for his actions, both with the sentence handed down by the court, but also with the loss of further work opportunities that might have come his way had he not betrayed the roofer in such an appalling way.”