The wife of a former Yopa employee who has pleaded guilty to a £1.5m fraud told a court that she thought he could afford a Ferrari.

Haroon Cassim ran a contact centre at Yopa where he was paid £60,000 a year and also worked for national firm Camelot. He defrauded Yopa out of £505,000 and Camelot out of £960,000 and is now awaiting sentence.

Cassim’s wife Sofina Sarwar, 34, is currently on trial and denies three counts of money laundering.

She says she was unaware her husband was using her personal bank accounts to hide the stolen money.

In cross-examination, she said she thought the Ferrari was a company car.

She also believed he could afford corporate boxes at Manchester United and Leicester City.

She said: “He had a decent job and I thought he could afford to buy those things.”

Sarwar’s trial at Leicester Crown Court continues.

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/mum-claims-shes-lost-everything-3895645