Council Worker Diverted Funds in £1m Theft
Thursday 17th August, 2023
A former council worker has been jailed for stealing nearly £1m from a local authority.
Tyler Evans pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by abuse of position and another of money laundering at Birmingham Crown Court and has now been sentenced to four years and eight months imprisonment.
Evans worked for the Highways Permit Team at Birmingham City Council from 2010 until April 2014. His role was to control the refund of payment bonds to contractors who carried out work on the city’s highways.
A council and police investigation uncovered that Evans was arranging the refund of these road bond deposits to his own bank accounts or those controlled by his associates.
Andrew Cant of the CPS said: “Evans fraudulently diverted money, which should have been spent on vital public services such as education, health and social care or the upkeep of the city’s roads, for his own personal financial gain.
When concerns were brought to the council's attention in 2014 an audit investigation was instigated and subsequently the matter referred to West Midlands Police. Prior to the completion of the audit investigation Mr Evans had been dismissed from the council for other reasons.
Mr Evans had in the meantime emigrated to the USA, and from where the CPS undertook extradition procedures, culminating in his return to the UK to face charges earlier this year.