Edinburgh bank fraud-buster conned friends out of £35,000

A crooked bank worker conned a group of friends out of more than £35,000 in a foreign currency scam to feed his gambling habit.

David Hay convinced family friend Gary Small to hand over thousands of pounds after claiming he could provide him with the currency at preferential rates due to his position as a financial investigator with HSBC.

Hay, 42, said he received the cash from a senior manager with the bank who worked in Paris and brought back Euros and US Dollars at cost price and did not have to pay any form of mark up.

Mr Small then told four of his own friends of the currency deal and while acting as “a middle man” he handed over a total of £35,970 to Hay over a four month period which was never paid back.

Crooked banker David Hay engineered a foreign currency scam to fund his football betting habit.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told Mr Small was subsequently forced to take out a loan of £29,000 “to reimburse” his pals back after the currency scam collapsed.

Hay - who has also worked with the Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Sainsbury’s - was said to have used the cash to “fund his gambling addiction, namely football betting online” with Bet365.

The betting firm was said to have become “concerned regarding the amount of gambling” by the financial worker and decided to close his account down.

Edinburgh bank worker jailed for taking £40K from city branch

Hay, of Ferry Road, Leith, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of fraudulently obtaining £35,970 from five men between June and October 2018 when he appeared at the capital court yesterday. (THURS)

Prosecutor Anna Chisholm said Hay first contacted Mr Small through a WhatsApp message on June 1, 2018 to inform off him he could provide the foreign currency.

Mr Small then made several bank transfers totalling £20,000 into two accounts belonging to Hay and the court was told “this agreement took place several times with no issues at first”.

The court heard on several occasions no money was paid tp the group of investors and no refund was offered.

Ms Chisholm added: “Mr Small took it upon himself to reimburse several complainers and took out a £29,000 loan to cover their payments.

“He made the accused aware of and the accused stated he would provide money to meet the loan payments and pay the bank loan back.”

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Mr Small then continued to pay large sums to Hay after receiving messages claiming to be from HSBC senior manager Peter Roy stating he was the supplier of the currency.

The fiscal depute added: “Police enquiries confirm the witness Peter Roy was never involved in this fraudulent scheme.”

Mr Small received some small reimbursements from Hay but after the payments dried up he decided to contact the police to report the fraud in March 2019.

During a police interview Hay told officers he had been sacked from his position with HSBC “as he had breached data protection” after accessing information he should not have.

Hay also divulged he “spent the proceeds of this scheme on betting”.

Sheriff Douglas Keir bailed Hay ahead of sentencing next month.

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