Bail Blog
02/13/2013
A London magician could be about to perform a vanishing act now that he’s heading to jail after using his sleight-of-hand skills to make cash disappear while working at a store’s cheese till.
Amit Gadhia worked for two and a half years for the store originally as an entertainer performing magic tricks for customers before moving to a job on the cheese counter.
The 35-year-old used his “quick fingers” training to take small amounts of cash using one hand to slip money from the register and the other to secrete it.
His tricks were revealed when the day’s takings didn’t match sales that had been rung up.
He was confronted and searched by staff, who found him carrying a small amount of cocaine.
The thief admitted he had taken between £1 and £20 on different occasions which totalled around £70 in the run-up to Christmas.
Gadhia, who lives with his parents, was left broke after helping his parents with money.
His lawyer said, “He simply had no money to get the basics and was tempted by the opportunity that arose. The cash taken was of a low value and it was a very small amount of cocaine which he had for his own use.”
Gadhia admitted theft by employee and possessing a class-A drug and is awaiting sentence.