Fraud mum living in £1m home had greggs every day and betrayed me, says ex boss

'AFFLUENT' HEMALATHA JAYAPRAKASH HAS BEEN JAILED FOR STEALING OVER £166,000 FROM HER COMPANY DESPITE LIVING IN A £1M HOME 04:16, 01 Jun 2025 A former company director has described

his 'devastation' at being betrayed by his trusted personal assistant who stole more than £166,000 from the business - while living in a £1million home. Nin Rehal spoke of the

'profound and long lasting impact' of Hemalatha Jayaprakash's three-year fraud, which included stealing money while he was caring for his terminally ill mother in her final

days and years. He also detailed her lavish spending on lottery tickets, Greggs and Deliveroo takeaways while he was having to remortgage the family home to keep all of the plates spinning.

READ MORE: 'GREEDY MUM LIVING IN £1M HOUSE' STOLE £166K FROM HER EMPLOYER Jayaprakash, aged 44 and from Great Barr, wailed in anguish as she was jailed for two years and three

months at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday, May 21. She was hired at Birmingham-based Northwood estate agents as accounts manager in 2012 before becoming personal assistant to the

director and office manager. Article continues below She had full access to company funds but between January 2021 and March 2024 she made nearly 160 illegal transactions paying herself

£167,067.68. "This fraud was not opportunistic; it was calculated, pre-meditated and a sustained scheme executed over multiple years," said Nin, who founded the business and was

its managing director at the time. It was his decision to sell in 2023 that led to Jayaprakash's fraud being detected when the accounts were examined. Nin, aged 57 and a father-of-two,

told Birmingham Live: "As well as running the day-to-day business, my wife and I were also caring for our two children and for both of my parents as well as working full time - my wife

is an NHS cancer scientist. "Then we unfortunately ended up dealing with two funerals two years apart - my dad died during Covid with the funeral under Covid conditions in August 2020

and my mum died in December 2022. "I used to confide in Jayaprakash in daily meetings, sometimes in tears, but she would tell me not to worry about the office, all is in control with

the team. "It absolutely devastates me to see this was all smoke and mirrors so she could continue to manipulate the franchise software and conceal stolen funds from the business and

client bank accounts." Nin recalled how Jayaprakash stole more than £6,000 knowing he was out of the office due to the fact his mother had passed away 24 hours earlier, and how she then

turned up at her funeral 'flowers in hand' with her husband. "This is the level of greed, deception and betrayal we are dealing with," he added. Nin confirmed he had

attended six sessions of support counselling while he had been left with anxiety, stress and insomnia which had made daily functioning difficult. He also stated the fraud had caused him

'devastating financial losses', forcing him to release equity from his family home, sell one of the family cars and use family savings to make ends meet. Despite Jayaprakash

repaying a large sum of the stolen money to the Northwood Birmingham office account Nin has not received anything himself, due to funds from the sale of the business still being withheld by

franchise solicitors 18 months after the deal was completed. He confirmed he would not have sold it had it not been for the financial damage caused by Jayaprakash's actions, which went

undetected by the franchise auditors and pre-sale due diligence. He further rejected her barrister's claims in court that she did not live a 'lavish lifestyle', by revealing

the married mother-of-two had bought her £1m home outright in 2018. Nin also recalled how Jayaprakash spent freely on lottery tickets as well as Greggs breakfasts and Deliveroo lunches in

the office on a daily basis. Jayaprakash claimed she had used the stolen money to pay her child's school fees as well as sent large sums to relatives in India who had lost their homes

due to flooding. Recorder Amy Jackson expressed scepticism at how she was able to repay the money back so quickly. She said: "Everything I have read about this lady takes me to the

belief she is from an affluent background where she ought not to need to steal to fund a lifestyle and effectively does lead a lavish lifestyle. This was pure greed." Article continues

below Jayaprakash, of Queslett Road, admitted one offence of fraud by abuse of position. A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing was listed to take place on August 26, to determine issues

around confiscation, costs and compensation.