IT manager was taking backhanders

The corrupt IT manager of a metal company took almost £7,500 worth of TVs and computers as incentives to give business to a supply firm, a court was told.

The backhanders were hidden in the invoices for the work and were unwittingly paid for by Impalloy, who employed him at its base in Willenhall Road, Bloxwich.

Rajeev Soni gave AAG Systems details of the goods he wanted in exchange for ordering equipment from them, prosecutor Iain Willis told Wolverhampton Crown Court.

The 37-year-old thief sold some of the items to friends and kept the rest for himself.

Soni was appointed IT manager at Impalloy in 2006 and was in charge of all contracts and invoices.

Mr Willis said: "AAG was very keen to do business and he made it clear from the outset that he wanted to receive incentives from them. The free gifts were then disguised in invoices covering legitimate orders.

"Impalloy was paying for goods it did not see. These were delivered to the home of the defendant or other addresses specified by him."

Soni collected £7,400 of goods in just two months between May and July 2009. They included three TVs, computers, phones and a remote controlled helicopter.

The parent company of AAG discovered what was happening and tipped off Impalloy, who called police.

Mr Willis said AAG appeared to have been sanctioning what was going on but that it had not beenpossible to discover any individual responsible at the firm.

Soni, now of Westfield Grove, Derby, will have repay all the stolen £7,400 in 28 days. He admitted theft from his employer and received a 12 month prison sentence suspended under supervision for two years with 200 hours unpaid work and £1,200 costs.