Ghazala Ashraf was found guilty of three charges of theft and one of transferring criminal property following a trial at Lewes Crown Court, said a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesman. The thefts took place between August 2010 and November 2012 when she was employed by APCOA (UK) Ltd. as an accounts manager. A CPS spokesman said: “Following an audit, it became clear that the amount the car parks were generating in revenue had been under reported and not all of the cash generated was being banked. On average, around £1,000 a day in bank notes was being retained and in total, £457,196.77 was stolen.” When a search was carried out of Ashraf’s house in Horleyi n January 2013, almost £5,000 in cash was found. Evidence was also found that money had been spent on clothing, electrical goods and a number of foreign trips, with Ashraf funding her daughter’s wedding. Jaswant Narwal, chief Crown prosecutor for CPS South East, said: “Ashraf systemically stole from her company, after they employed her to manage the financial affairs of their Gatwick office. She was responsible for overseeing the counting of the cash generated by the car parks, which is around £60 million, and the banking of that cash. Her company relied on the accuracy of the data she was responsible for submitting to them and, as such, she was in a highly respectable position and her dishonesty was a huge breach of the trust placed in her.” Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1) Make our website your homepage at www.crawleyobserver.co.uk 2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/crawleyobserver 3) Follow us on Twitter @Crawley_Obby 4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out! The Crawley Observer - always the first with your local news. Be part of it.