Sainsbury’s IT worker steals £73,000 in Nectar points
Programmer would have needed to spend £7m to legitimately have earned points
An analyst programmer at Sainsbury’s has admitted stealing £73,000 worth of Nectar reward points from the retailer.
James Stevenson created several Nectar accounts under false names between November 2002 and May 2003 and credited them with around 14 million reward points for the loyalty scheme,which were worth a total of £73,207.
To have legitimately built up £73,207 worth of Nectar reward points (where 2 points are given for each £1 spent), Stevenson would have had to spend £7m at Sainsbury’s over a seven-month period.
A court heard that Stevenson of Muswell Hill, London redeemed £8,120 worth of the points on groceries.
Stevenson, 45, faces jail when he is sentenced in January after admitting charges of fraud and theft.
Sainsbury’s has declined to comment on the case saying it is still ongoing.