Ewa Bieniak created phantom workers on payroll to fund lavish lifestyle whilst innocent colleagues fell under suspicion
A GRANDMOTHER who plundered nearly £200,000 from a charity helping disabled people has been caged for almost four years — after blaming her crimes on a compulsive shopping habit.
Polish-born Ewa Bieniak, 46, wept in the dock as she was sentenced for the sophisticated fraud that targeted Wednesbury-based Sirus Automotive, which provides specially adapted vehicles for people with disabilities.
But here’s the shocking twist: this was the second time the Polish national had been jailed for workplace fraud.
The serial fraudster had already served time for stealing a staggering £306,000 from another employer — yet managed to land a trusted position handling payroll at the disability charity without declaring her criminal past.
GHOST WORKERS ON THE BOOKS
Birmingham Crown Court heard how Bieniak’s elaborate scheme involved the creation of “ghost employees” to divert company funds to herself between November 2021 and March last year.
The scam saw her pocket £194,509.66 whilst working as a payroll administrator — a position of trust she’d secured by hiding her dodgy history.
According to fraud experts, ghost employee schemes typically involve adding fictitious workers to payroll systems who then receive regular wages despite not actually existing. The fraudster simply diverts these phantom paychecks into their own accounts.
What made Bieniak’s deception particularly cruel? Her deception led to innocent staff members falling under suspicion before investigators identified Bieniak as the perpetrator.
Imagine turning up for work at a charity, dedicating yourself to helping disabled people access mobility, only to find yourself under investigation for theft you didn’t commit.
‘SPENDING WAS HER COPING MECHANISM’
When the grandmother-of-one finally faced justice on Monday, her defence team trotted out an extraordinary excuse.
Defence barrister Queenie Djan told the court her client’s “actions were driven by an unfortunate compulsive spending addiction” and that “spending was her way of coping with emotional pain.
The court heard how Bieniak’s mental health had deteriorated following her mother’s death in 2018, when she could not afford to travel to the funeral.
Yet somehow, despite claiming poverty prevented her from attending her own mother’s funeral, she managed to find nearly £200,000 to splash on her shopping sprees.
The court heard Bieniak had been married for 26 years and has an adult daughter and grandson — making her betrayal of trust all the more baffling.
JUDGE’S DAMNING VERDICT
Judge Heidi Kubik KC wasn’t buying the sob story, highlighting the sophisticated nature of the fraud and its devastating impact on the charity.
The judge pointed to “the fact blame was wrongly placed on others” as a particularly nasty aspect of the case — innocent workers had their reputations dragged through the mud whilst Bieniak lined her pockets.
Most damning of all? Judge Kubik emphasised that Bieniak’s previous conviction for similar offending was “a significant aggravating feature” of the case.
“You are supposed to declare previous convictions when seeking employment of this nature,” Judge Kubik said as she handed down the sentence.
The 46-year-old, from Turner Avenue, admitted fraud by abuse of position and was immediately taken to the cells to begin her three years and nine months behind bars.
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
What beggars belief is how Bieniak managed to pull off virtually the same scam twice.
Back in 2016, she’d been sentenced to two-and-a-half years after stealing £306,000 from Birmingham recruitment agency Team Support Midlands between 2010 and 2015.
That’s half a million pounds in total stolen from two different West Midlands employers — all whilst maintaining the façade of a respectable family woman.
How did she slip through the net? Bieniak had failed to declare her previous fraud conviction when applying for the position at Sirus Automotive, according to reports.
It raises serious questions about background checks, particularly for positions involving access to company finances.
THE HUMAN COST
Whilst Bieniak spends the next few years contemplating her crimes from a prison cell, the real victims are left to pick up the pieces.
Sirus Automotive provides vital mobility solutions for disabled people — every penny stolen was money that could have gone towards helping vulnerable individuals gain independence.
Then there are the innocent employees who found themselves under suspicion, their professional reputations potentially tarnished through no fault of their own.
As Bieniak broke down in tears as the judge confirmed she would be imprisoned immediately, perhaps she finally understood the gravity of her actions.
Or perhaps she was just crying for herself — after all, this grandmother’s shopping days are well and truly over.
