A DOCK worker stole more than £75,000 from his employers and spent it on exotic holidays and expensive cosmetic dental work.
Nigel Piggott, 49, tricked his bosses at Teesside-based PD Ports Services into paying him overtime for five years – by invoicing them in a false name.
Piggott's contract as a maintenance manager at the firm's operation at Immingham Docks stipulated overtime was a pre-requisite, and he was not paid for doing extra hours, a court heard.
But he complained that he was permanently on-call and often had to step in to "make up the numbers" when he could not find enough men to carry out work on the quayside.
A judge at Teesside Crown Court said Piggott "had a grudge, a chip on his shoulder" about how much work he had to do to earn his £28,000-a-year salary.
Prosecuting, Joanne Kidd said Piggott "got greedy" and invented a worker who was paid on a casual basis – directly into his "treats account".
The company – the largest general cargo stevedores at the busy port – paid out as much as £300 a week to the imaginary boatman for turning out to help Piggott's team to berth vessels and release them.
The court heard how the fraudster enjoyed holidays in Thailand, Singapore, Florida, Prague and Peurto Rico while ripping off his company between 2005 and 2010.
An examination of the bank account also revealed expenditure on costly cosmetic dental work and nights out at expensive restaurants, the court was told.
Piggott, of Windlesham Avenue, Scartho, admitted theft, but put forward a basis of plea which claimed some of the money he pocketed went to casual workers. Judge Peter Fox, QC, rejected his evidence after a hearing to determine the truth, describing him as "far less than frank" and accusing him of "dodging" questions.
The judge adjourned sentencing until next month for the preparation of background reports and granted Piggott bail, but warned him: "You must prepare for prison."
The dishonesty came to light when the company was making people redundant in March last year, and Piggott was one of those facing the threat of losing his job.
Bosses became suspicious when he destroyed 55 electronic files on his work laptop, and deleted the names and numbers of casual workers from his mobile phone.
An investigation revealed that regular payments to the pretend employee – William Mooney – were being directed to what Miss Kidd described as Piggott's "treats account".
Police discovered that when he completed the signing-on form for the unsuspecting Mr Mooney, he used a bogus telephone number and the address of a relative.
The bank account number on the document corresponded to one Piggott had opened within days of filling in the recruitment form, Miss Kidd told the court.
"This was a sophisticated fraud which was dishonest from its inception in circumstances where the defendant went to great lengths when he was threatened with redundancy to destroy or hide documents that would reveal over that five-year period a ghost employee was not working but money was being paid by the company," said Miss Kidd.
Cross-examining Piggott, she said: "You set up the bank account on January 18, 2005, in order to use it to siphon off money to pay for your luxury holidays, eating out and your dental work."
Piggott replied: "It was for work I had completed."
Miss Kidd continued: "You were already unhappy in 2005 about the amount of money you got and the amount of work you were required to do.
"You just became greedy and set up a system where you thought you could get away with being paid more money than was due to you, and when you realised you were about to be found out, you set about destroying documents."
The judge was told that Piggott's replacement, who was to be a prosecution witness, was threatened that his legs would be broken if he gave evidence in court.
Miss Kidd said the menacing telephone call last week was made to Colin Wilkinson from a withheld number, and the matter is now being investigated by police.
Judge Fox said: "It gives rise to an alarming matter which, if apprehended and proved, would mean an instant and lengthy prison sentence.
"I am glad to hear it is being investigated by the police. I hope it is investigated thoroughly and the perpetrator apprehended ... if there were to be any repetition, that would be a very severely aggravating feature, the consequences of which must be obvious."
PD Ports Services declined to comment.
source: thisisgrimsby.co.uk
