Former Lloyd's broker handed three and a half year jail term

Former Besso broker Timothy Barker has been jailed for three and a half years after he fooled bosses into paying him more money.

According to the London Evening Standard, Barker siphoned off nearly £1 million of clients' money, claiming it was the profit on his work account.

Bosses at the Lloyd's broker paid him an extra £270,000 in salary, commission and bonuses over four years as a result.

He was arrested following an internal investigation in June 2006.

Barker admitted four counts of furnishing false information at Southwark crown court.

The report said Besso estimates Barker's fraud cost it £2.5m, as the deception also led it to pay out extra shareholder dividends and staff bonuses, in addition to the cost of the bonuses, and the money owed to his clients.

Barker had previously been sentenced to 18 months in the mid-Nineties for stealing £35,000 from a travel agency where he worked.