Luxury spending spree funded by company theft
A North London woman has been jailed for nearly six years after defrauding her employer of over £200,000 to fund a lavish lifestyle that included shopping sprees at Harrods and Zara, holidays to Dubai and Mexico, and payments to Thames Water and Harley Street clinics.
Anita Mirmohammadi, 31, of Temple Close, Finchley, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison at Basildon Crown Court on Friday, May 9.
How the fraud unfolded
Mirmohammadi worked as a finance manager for a Brentwood-based company from 2018, where she was entrusted with a corporate credit card. Over the next four years, she systematically abused that trust by spending nearly £185,000 on personal purchases and fraudulent invoices.
An internal fraud audit in April 2022 uncovered suspicious international transactions, triggering a full investigation by Essex Police’s Economic Crime Unit.
The fraud was split into:
- £126,381.19 spent via the company credit card
- £63,294.70 stolen through fake invoices paid directly into accounts she controlled
Mirmohammadi’s spending included:
- Luxury goods from Harrods, Zara, Apple, and eBay
- Bills to Thames Water and Harley Street
- Uber rides and multiple foreign holidays
- Payments to Mercedes-Benz
She was arrested at Gatwick Airport, shortly before she was due to leave the country.
Judge: ‘Systemic and sustained dishonesty’
“She was not dependent on stealing to survive… She is a selfish, self-obsessed woman who engaged in repeated regular dishonesty which was systemic and sustained. She gave no thought to the consequences at all.”
Police: She knew exactly what she was doing
Detective Constable Karen Venables, of Essex Police, said:
“This was a calculated, ongoing fraud that would have continued had she not been caught. Mirmohammadi knew exactly what she was doing and actively tried to cover her tracks.”
“Our work doesn’t stop here – we now turn to confiscating her criminal gains under the Proceeds of Crime Act.”
Next steps: Proceeds of Crime investigation underway
Police confirmed they are continuing financial investigations in hopes of recovering stolen funds. Investigators are working closely with banks, businesses, and Action Fraud to trace and seize assets linked to the fraud.
