- NatWest banker stole £344K over eight years undetected
- Judge cites gambling addiction, illness in suspended sentence ruling
- Case highlights urgency of UK gambling law reforms
A former branch manager of the UK’s NatWest bank escaped prison time last week after admitting to skimming £344,410 (US$465K) from his own ATMs over an extraordinary eight-year stretch.
John Toms received a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting to swiping the cash from the Moorgate branch in the City of London, the UK’s financial district, where he was the senior manager. He told the court his actions were fueled by a crippling gambling addiction.
Fingers in ATMs
Between January 2016 and April 2024, Toms leveraged his exclusive access to ATMs to siphon cash undetected, prosecutors said.
He would withdraw cash from the machines late in the day. Then he would slip into the branch before opening hours to shuffle money between ATM registers and back‑office funds, according to prosecutors. He even forged coworkers’ signatures to mask the anomaly in the branch’s daily and quarterly reconciliations, per court documents.
He would … come in early the next morning before others arrived, access the ATMs, take the precise amount he had taken the night before from the ATMs, and put them in the cash register,” prosecutor Alexander Matic told the court.
Matic added that the banker was gambling far more than was sustainable on his £47K a year salary.
The defendant admitted to stealing from the bank after two internal NatWest investigations, insisting he had acted alone.
Leniency Raises Eyebrows
Judge Tony Baumgartner imposed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years. The order requires Toms to complete unpaid community work and participate in a rehabilitation program.
The court heard Toms had been diagnosed with cancer, which was weighed alongside his addiction when deciding the sentence.
Tom’s attorney Siddick Gokhool told the court his client was “remorseful, and he is not only remorseful for what he has done, but also for NatWest and mainly for his family.”
Toms attempted partial restitution by cashing out his pension, repaying about £100K. Even so, NatWest remains short nearly £250K, according to court records.
The sentencing comes at a time when the UK is tightening its regulatory stance on gambling. The government’s recent white paper on gambling reform emphasized affordability checks and stronger safeguards for people showing signs of harm.
Supporters of those reforms will say Toms’ case illustrates why the safeguards matter.
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