Ex-NatWest Manager Dodges Jail After Stealing £344K From ATMs to Fund Gambling Habit

A former NatWest branch manager has escaped prison despite admitting to stealing £344,410 (US$465,000) from the bank’s ATMs over the course of eight years. John Toms, who managed the Moorgate branch in London’s financial district, was handed a two-year prison term, suspended for two years, after confessing that his thefts were driven by a gambling addiction.

Prosecutors told the court that between January 2016 and April 2024, Toms exploited his access as senior manager to repeatedly siphon cash from the branch’s machines. His scheme involved late-night withdrawals, followed by early-morning visits to reposition money between ATM registers and back-office funds before colleagues arrived. To disguise the discrepancies, he even falsified coworkers’ signatures on daily and quarterly reconciliation forms.

“He would … come in early the next morning before others arrived, access the ATMs, take the precise amount he had taken the night before from the ATMs, and put them in the cash register,” prosecutor Alexander Matic explained. He added that Toms was wagering sums far beyond what his £47,000 annual salary could sustain.

After two internal investigations at NatWest uncovered the losses, Toms admitted his actions, telling investigators he had acted alone.

Judge Tony Baumgartner imposed a suspended sentence requiring Toms to perform unpaid community service and participate in a rehabilitation program. The court also took into account Toms’ recent cancer diagnosis, balancing his health condition against the seriousness of the offenses.

Defense lawyer Siddick Gokhool described his client as “remorseful, and he is not only remorseful for what he has done, but also for NatWest and mainly for his family.”

Toms attempted partial repayment by cashing in his pension, returning around £100,000. Nonetheless, court documents indicate NatWest is still owed close to £250,000.

The sentencing coincides with the UK government’s push to strengthen gambling regulation. A recently published white paper on reform calls for affordability checks and tighter safeguards to protect individuals at risk of harm. Advocates of these measures point to Toms’ case as a vivid example of why such protections are necessary.

By fLEXI tEAM