Fraud prompts Welsh authorities to review bus company procedures

Local authorities in Wales are working with the Welsh government to review procedures with bus companies after the director of one such company was ordered to repay nearly £43,000 to Gwynedd Council.

David Hulme, 56, formerly a director of Padarn Buses, was jailed in March 2016 for six years for fraud and false accounting. He was found to have made false claims about concessionary fare passenger numbers.

Between July 2011 and December 2012 he claimed £495,857 for the company, drawing personal benefits of over £87,000 from the fraud. 

He has now been ordered by Judge Huw Rees, sitting in Caernarfon Crown Court, to repay the £43,000 within three months. The order was given at the end of a proceeds of crime hearing, conducted by the Crown Prosecution Service.

A Gwynedd Council spokesperson said: “This was an extremely serious case in which substantial sums of money were fraudulently extracted from the public purse. As the judge noted at the end of the case, this is a case of high culpability. This was a sophisticated fraud that took advantage of an understanding of the system. The information presented to the police demonstrated that great efforts had been made to ensure that there were no signs that fraud was occurring, and that the criminals has been able to take advantage of genuine efforts across Wales to promote and increase the use of the concessional tickets.

“Due to the nature of the fraud, and the company’s internal procedures, it would have been extremely difficult to find the relevant information in order to refer the matter to the police at an earlier stage. After receiving information about the fraud, the council referred the matter on to the police immediately. Since then, councils across Wales along with the police have been working closely with the Welsh Government to review procedures with bus companies who claim for concessionary tickets.

“As the council administers the concessionary tickets scheme on behalf of the Welsh Government, any funds received in this case will be transferred on to the government.”