FCA bans ex-HSBC banker Joseph Molloy over £5,900 train fare fraud

RightThe Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced on Thursday 1 October that it had banned Joseph Molloy, 53, from working in any regulated financial services role because of his fraud conviction. 1 2 RightThe FCA's ruling said his conviction "demonstrates a clear and serious lack of honesty and integrity such that he is not fit and proper to perform regulated activities". 1 RightMolloy had accepted that he fell below the expected standards, and both outlets report he has not challenged the ban; the Express says it understands he has not lodged an appeal. 2 1

RightMolloy commuted from his £2million home in Orpington, south London, to HSBC's headquarters in Canary Wharf using "doughnutting", which means buying tickets for the start and end of a journey but not the stations in between. 1 2 RightBetween October 2023 and September 2024 he did this on at least 740 journeys, avoiding £5,911 in fares. 1 2 RightHe used false names, addresses and email accounts to obtain two smartcards, and the Daily Mail adds that he also obtained Jobcentre Plus discounts of 50 per cent. 1 2

RightMolloy initially declined to comment in a police interview but confessed in full when shown the evidence. The Mail reports it was not disclosed how he was caught. 1 2 RightHe pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and was sentenced on 17 February at Inner London Crown Court to ten months' imprisonment suspended for 18 months. 1 2 RightHe was also banned from Southeastern trains for a year; the Express says he must pay the company £5,900 in compensation, while the Mail gives £5,000 compensation and adds 80 hours of unpaid work. 2 1

RightProsecutor Jack Furness called the scheme "sophisticated in planning and execution", and Recorder Alexander Stein said Molloy was "a man of some financial means" who could afford his fares, calling the offending "persistent and serious"; he suspended the sentence because of strong mitigation. 2 RightHis barrister, Will Hanson, said Molloy was under stress from health issues and grief over his mother's death, and described the fraud as "discreet", committed against a large private company rather than an individual. 2 1 RightMolloy was head of passive equity at HSBC's asset management arm, a post the Express says he took up in 2015, until he retired last year; HSBC was approached for comment by both outlets. 1 2

RightThe Mail adds that fare evasion costs the rail industry an estimated £240million a year according to the Rail Delivery Group, and that companies are testing GPS technology against doughnutting. 2