A WOMAN who was jailed for stealing from her employer, and gave half to a romance fraudster, has been ordered to pay more than £600,000 in compensation.

Ilyiea Ali, 45, was sent to prison for 30 months in 2018 after admitting to stealing £610,144 from her former employer, Information Security Forum Ltd (ISF) back in 2015.

A compensation order to the value of £662,727 was made in Bradford Crown Court on Thursday, October 8, against Ali.

The order against the 45-year-old is to compensate ISF.

Ramona Senior, head of West Yorkshire Police’s economic crime unit, said: “This is a serious reminder that we will seek to recover any proceeds that individuals make from crime, and work hard to ensure that victims, whether they be individuals or organisations, are compensated.

“The debt will remain with Ali until it is repaid.”

At her initial court hearing, it was reported that Ali gave half of the stolen money to a romance fraudster from Bradford.

Bradford Crown Court was told in 2018 that Ali handed over more than £300,000 to Tahmoor Khan, a gambling addict.

Read more about that here...

Khan was jailed for eight-and-half years in October 2016 after the same court heard he had wrecked the lives of two women by conning them out of a quarter of a million pounds.

After amassing £80,000 debts at casinos, Khan targeted the women via a dating website and persuaded them to hand over money to him, promising to pay them back.

He posed as a successful businessman, but pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, with the court told he lived in a “Walter Mitty world of deception.”

The court in 2018 heard during a previous hearing that while Khan’s other victims appeared to have lent him their own money, Ali also used funds belonging to her employer.

Prosecutor Tom Storey said Ali had started working for ISF in 2010, progressing to an annual wage of more than £68,000.

He said that in 2016, police in Bradford who were investigating Khan’s bank accounts discovered a number of transactions in Ali’s name.

Mr Storey said: “He (Khan) would request money from women on the pretext that he would marry them.

"This defendant was one of several women targeted in this way.”

Ali later admitted she had paid money into Khan’s accounts, but said she knew him as Sohail Hussain, who had told her he needed help to keep his car business afloat.

This week sees the launch of a national police campaign to raise awareness of romance fraud, which has cost victims across the UK over £66million in just a year.

In supporting the campaign, Ramona Senior said: “Our statistics show that romance fraud can happen to anyone – with victims of all ages, sexes and professions targeted by the sophisticated criminals.

“By knowing how to spot potential signs people can reduce their chances of being a victim and that is why we, as a force, are showing our support for this campaign.”

Find out more about the campaign here.