Sainsbury’s programmer steals over £73,000 worth of Nectar points
He spent more than £8,000 of points on shopping
By Anh Nguyen | Computerworld UK | Published 16:38, 06 December 10
An IT professional at Sainsbury’s has admitted to stealing more than £73,000 in Nectar reward points from his employer, and redeeming £8,120 worth of points on groceries.
London-based James Stevenson, a lead analyst programmer at Sainsbury’s, admitted to creating false accounts and crediting them with around 14 million Nectar points, which have a monetary value of £73,207.
To have collected this amount in reality, Stevenson would have had to spend £7 million at the supermarket over a seven-month period. He stole the points between 17 November 2002 and 24 May 2003.
Judge Peter Thornton has released Stevenson on bail over Christmas, but said Stevenson is likely to be jailed after sentencing on 14 January.
Under Sainsbury’s Nectar loyalty programme, two points are awarded for every pound spent. A spokesperson for Sainsbury's said that they could not comment as the case is still ongoing.
