A CREWE bank manager who stole more than £60,000 from vulnerable clients in a bid to clear his mounting debts has been jailed.

Sohail Malik, 45, from Perry Road, Timperley, was given an 18 month jail term after pleading guilty to stealing the money when he was the manager at the Crewe branch of the Cheshire Building Society.

The family man, who lived with his wife and three children, was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Thursday, September 2.

In total Malik stole £61,396 from the victims – which included a man in his 80s who had suffered a stroke, his late wife and a woman grieving after the death of her father.

He stole £18,231 from the account of the late Eunice Sandland before taking £20,589 from her husband, Leslie’s account in August 2009.

The final amount of £22,576 in the form of a cheque was taken from 44-year-old Karen Curzon in November 2009.

The court heard his personal debts included £23,000 owed on his credit card and £15,000 for a bank loan.

He used £11,000 of the money to travel back to Pakistan to look after family business after his mother and father died.

In a written statement read out at court, Mr Sandland said he was not sure of how much money was left in the accounts he and his wife had because she dealt with the finances.

“I was unaware of what accounts she had,” he said.

“I often went to the bank with my son because I have had a heart attack and a stroke. I struggled to understand Mr Sohail because of I am partially deaf and I struggled with his accent.

“I never gave him any authority to take the money out of the account.”

Karen Curzon, in a similar statement, said she was aware of who Mr Malik was because her late father held an account at the Crewe branch.

“I was still grieving from my loss and said I didn’t want the money,” she said.

“I received a call from the bank and Mr Malik said there was a problem with the account and asked me to come in.

“I do remember signing a slip but I can’t remember what it was. I trusted him as my bank manager.”

The two amounts from the Sandland account were transferred to Malik’s personal Lloyds TSB account while the cheque was also cashed.

But the matters came to light in January 2010 when he was summoned to the society’s head office in Macclesfield.

At that hearing he admitted to taking the money but insisted that he had not chose his victims because they were vulnerable.

He was fired and police were called to investigate.

His defence solicitor Duncan McDiarmid, said his client was ashamed and had brought disgust on his family.

The court heard that despite being born in England, Malik joined the Pakistan Navy after completing his education where he served until 2000.

During that time he was handed the ‘Sword of Honour’, which is awarded to the cadets who achieve an overall best performance during the training period. Mr McDiamid added: “After leaving the Navy he worked in retail but he found it wasn’t challenging. He saw a job as a financial adviser for the Co-op and worked there for six years.

“He gained certificates in that industry and became a fully qualified stockbroker and financial adviser.

“The financial crisis led to him being made redundant but he is a very determined man and he kept looking for jobs and found the position at the Cheshire.

“At this point the pressure was building – his eldest son had been expelled twice from school for two serious incidents.

“He managed to get him into a private school but that added to the financial pressures.

“It wasn’t the vulnerability of his victims but the circumstances of how easy it was to access these accounts.

“He knew from the outset that Mr Sandland wouldn’t notice but the auditors at the Cheshire would.

“The money was transferred to his personal account and he knew he couldn’t escape and he knew the consequences. It was a remarkably stupid thing to do.”

Judge Roger Dutton said: “You sit before the court a disgraced man.

“A man who had a career of service to your country and after your retirement performed well in other professional capacities.

“One of those you stole from was a deceased lady, one was the widower and had no idea of his finances and Mrs Curzon in difficult circumstances had just suffered a bereavement and had decided that she didn’t want the money and people often feel like that.

“You were in a high position of trust and the public trusted you with their money. The fact that you were the branch manager and helping yourself to their money means I have no option but to hand you a custodial sentence.”

The court was told that the building society had fully repaid both Mrs Curzon and Mr Sandland.

A spokesperson for Cheshire Building Society said it could not comment on the case.