The Chase winner Daniel Hodgin stole huge sums of money from dead people’s bank accounts, it has been reported.
The former contestant’s shocking actions came after he won a share of £14k on the hit ITV gameshow back in 2017.
The Chase winner stole money from dead people’s accounts
Hodgin, a former contestant on The Chase, has narrowly avoided prison after reportedly stealing money from dead people’s bank accounts.
The 47-year-old was on the show back in 2017.
Along with his teammates, Emanuela and Ollie, they managed to evade Anne Hegerty and win themselves £14,000.
This meant that Hodgin got £4,666 for himself.
However, after his time on the show came to an end, Daniel reportedly spiralled into debt after “living beyond his means” for a number of years.
This then led to Hodgin plundering cash from the estates of deceased customers while working for Halifax in Leyland, Lancashire.
The Chase winner is believed to have stolen around £53,000 from dead customers before finally being caught last summer.
Today (October 25), he narrowly missed out on prison time as he was handed a suspended sentence during trial at Preston Crown Court.
Former The Chase winner plunders £53k from dead customers
Preston Crown Court was told that Hodgin had abused his position as a finance consultant at the bank in Leyland.
Hodgin transferred money between the accounts of dead customers and siphoned payments into his own bank account.
The court also heard that on some occasions, he would set up standing orders, before cancelling them days later.
The former contestant would also reportedly use dormant accounts to have fraudulent loans paid in.
He would then transfer the money to himself.
Hodgin also reportedly converted one customer’s current account into a joint account before she passed away. He stole £3,000 from her.
He is then believed to have stolen a further £16k and made a duplicate transfer for the cost of her funeral to his own account.
Hodgin’s crimes were eventually noticed in August 2021 after his bosses noticed two fraudulent payments of over £30k.
The payments had been made from the account of a woman who had passed away a year earlier.
An investigation was launched and it was found that a number of dormant accounts had been reactivated. The investigation found that Hodgin was the common denominator.
Hodgin narrowly avoids prison time
After being caught, Hodgin reportedly told police that he’d “done something stupid”.
Anna Chestnutt, who was defending Hodgin, told the court: “He acknowledges the bereaved families would have been distressed that he took from the estates that should have gone to their families.”
Judge Simon Medland KC handed Hodgin a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for 20 months.
He also ordered Hodgin to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work.
“For reasons that aren’t satisfactorily explained, you began to lead a life which was significantly beyond your legitimate means, and racked up debts,” he said.
“You sought to satisfy this and get yourself out of trouble in a very sophisticated, cunning, and prolonged way,” he continued.
“You misused the knowledge you had of the systems in the bank where you were working, and robbing Peter to pay Paul – but you were the ultimate beneficiary of these funds.”
Hodgin will appear in court in December for a Proceeds of Crime hearing.
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