A SENIOR employee at Asda in Garston was found guilty of fraud at St Albans Crown Court this week.

Joe Olival, 29, of The Garth, Abbots Langley, transferred an estimated £6,641 into his own and a girlfriend's bank account when he was employed as a deputy service manager at the Dome Roundabout store from September 1995.

Olival, facing 17 charges of false accounting, was accused of making bogus refunds to two building society accounts and a bank account.

The highest individual refund was £362 while the lowest was less than £100.

Olival claimed he was the victim of an elaborate set-up designed to squeeze him out of the company.

He told St Albans Crown Court he took up the post at Asda on the understanding he would be promoted to customer service manager within a short period of time.

During the five-day trial a picture of ignored security processes and personality clashes at the supermarket emerged.

The court heard that Olival was passed over for the new post when he was sent temporarily to a different branch.

When he returned to the store, Mr Lennie Williams had been appointed customer service manager and his own role as deputy had been taken.

Mr Williams denied that he or any other managers were involved in the fraud.

He added he had always found Olival an able member of staff and there had never been any friction between them at work.

During the investigation police raided Olival's house and seized bank statements which showed the money had been transferred to the accounts.

Giving evidence Olival described an erratic system for giving refunds where personalised log-in numbers where common knowledge and mangers had little time to check the veracity of payments.

He said he thought some of the payments made to his accounts were bonuses, but claimed he had not noticed the rest.

Although he admitted authorising some of the transactions, he maintained he had done so because he believed them to be genuine.

Mr Olival will be sentenced at the end of the month. He was ordered to surrender his passport.

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