Finance manager jailed after stealing almost £200k from south Essex employer

Anita Mirmohammadi, 31, was caught defrauding the Brentwood-based business where she worked as a finance manager.

She began working at the company in 2018 and was given access to a business credit card.

However, on April 21, 2022, unrelated fraud checks on the company accounts revealed a pattern of unexplained transactions worldwide.

Banks, police, and Action Fraud were contacted, and it was discovered that Mirmohammadi, of Temple Close in Finchley, had been using her personally-issued credit card for personal expenses.

She also created fraudulent invoices to extract more money from the company accounts.

At a hearing at Basildon Crown Court on Friday, May 9, Mirmohammadi was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison.

A total of £184,675.89 was siphoned from the company – £126,381.19 by credit card and £63,294.70 from the business account via invoices.

Financial investigators are continuing to work to identify the criminal gains that can be confiscated from Mirmohammadi under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

A confiscation hearing is scheduled for the week commencing November 3, 2025, at the same court.

Judge Shane Collery said: “She was not dependent on stealing to survive, and her claim that she does care is hard to accept as she gave no thought to the consequences at all.

“She is a selfish, self-obsessed woman who repeated regular dishonesty, which was systemic and sustained, and she must have seen what she was doing.”

Throughout her employment, Mirmohammadi made luxury purchases at Harrods, Selfridges, Mercedes Benz, and funded holidays to Mexico, Turkey, and Dubai.

When Harrods carried out their own investigation, they found Mirmohammadi on CCTV making a purchase with the company card just a month before she was caught.

She also used it to fund regular spending on Apple, Amazon, eBay, Uber, and Zara, as well as Thames Water and Harley Street Dental.

Mirmohammadi was arrested at Gatwick Airport as she returned from holiday in Dubai on May 22, 2022, but when interviewed, answered no comment to all questions.

She was later charged with fraud by false representation on February 10, 2023, and following a seven-day trial, was found guilty at Basildon Crown Court on March 14, 2025.

Det Con Karen Venables said: “This sentence shows the severity of Mirmohammadi’s offending.

“This was a calculated, ongoing fraud that would have continued had she not been caught, and I am glad to see the judge recognise this in his sentencing.

“It was clear from the deception we found in these accounts that Mirmohammadi knew what she was doing was wrong and was trying to cover her tracks.”