Hotel manager jailed for buying train tickets from guest’s credit card

A hotel manager who used a customer’s credit card to fraudulently purchase train tickets has been jailed for a year.

Blessing Bere, 49, of Cadiz Street, Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court earlier this week following a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation.

The court heard how on 3 May 2022 a customer who had stayed overnight at the Surrey hotel where Bere was a night manager expressed concerns that a transaction had been made on his card to pay for train tickets.

After he contacted LNER customer service, it transpired the transaction had been fraudulent.

When Bere presented these tickets on a journey from London to Edinburgh, the tickets were flagged as suspicious and resulted in a fraud alert.

Bere was asked to leave the train at Doncaster so further enquiries could be made. He was met at the station by BTP officers who noted that the individual “seemed flustered” and failed to provide an explanation as to how he had acquired the tickets.

Further investigations found that Bere had attempted to purchase a number of LNER tickets using different cards and he was promptly arrested.

During a search, the officers seized several items from Bere, including credit card authorisation forms for the hotel that had recorded customers’ credit card and personal details.

It later emerged the victim had provided his AMEX credit card on arrival to hotel reception staff, which was later used by Bere to conduct unauthorised transactions.

Detectives contacted the banks relating to the card details found on Bere and reported he had made charges to another customer’s account totalling almost £250.

DC Kristene Lawrence said: “Bere was in a position of trust at the hotel where he worked and customers believed that their credit card details were safe when they handed them over. However Bere chose to use this information fraudulently and for his own gain.

“Ultimately he has paid a hefty price – a criminal record, a prison sentence and unemployment. It’s safe to say that crime really doesn’t pay.”

Peter Craggs, senior fraud prevention manager at LNER, added: “We take all reports of fraud incredibly seriously and collaborate closely with BTP to protect the public. Identifying those people abusing the system and ensuring they cannot use our services to profit from their crime is key to our approach.

“We’re pleased that the teamwork embodied by our fraud prevention, customer service and onboard teams, together with our colleagues at BTP, has led to justice being served.”

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