A 44-year-old former finance employee, Jonathan James Borg, has been sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of diverting more than €13,000 of company funds to his personal Revolut account. The court convicted Borg on charges of aggravated theft, fraud, money laundering, and unauthorized computer access in a case described as a “calculated and deliberate” breach of trust.
The sentence, handed down following a thorough investigation, also includes severe financial penalties and professional restrictions.
The Scheme: Exploiting System Access After Termination
The fraud occurred in 2019 while Borg was working as a finance and reconciliations consultant for Raketech, an online affiliate marketing company. Although his employment had been terminated, his access credentials to the client payment platform remained active.
Investigators found that Borg logged into the system, changed the company’s bank details for client payments, and replaced them with his own Revolut International Bank Account Number (IBAN). Between May and June of that year, over €13,164.27 in client commissions from operator Video Slots were diverted to his account. The funds were then quickly withdrawn from ATMs, often on the same day they were received.
Discovery and Investigation
The scheme was uncovered when Raketech’s head of accounts noticed that expected payments from a client were missing. An internal audit revealed that the payment details had been altered. Police inspectors Doriette Cuschieri and Joseph Xerri testified that Borg was the sole user of the Revolut account and that the transactions had been manually hidden within the app.
During questioning, Borg admitted recognizing some transactions but denied others, claiming he had not withdrawn the money. He never reported any unauthorized access to his account.
Court Ruling and Additional Penalties
In addition to the four-year prison term, the court imposed significant financial and professional consequences:
- Forfeiture of a €10,000 deposit and a €75,000 personal guarantee to the government.
- Order to reimburse €13,164.27 to Video Slots.
- Permanent exclusion from commercial activities and public funding.
- A five-year ban from holding public office, effective after his release.
The court found that while there was no direct evidence, the circumstantial evidence overwhelmingly pointed to Borg as the perpetrator, given his position, access, and control over the account that received the funds.
This verdict highlights the critical importance of robust offboarding procedures, especially for employees with access to financial systems.
