A council employee who recruited her brother for a role, despite his lack of experience and knowledge, has been handed a suspended sentence.

Former Waltham Forest employee Haseena Raja falsified documents on Zulfiqar Ali’s CV in an attempt to secure him a job at the council.

Raja claimed he had worked for the London Borough of Redbridge as a Land Charges Officer.

She then attempted to do the same again to recruit Nafeesa Ahmed, another member of her family, by falsifying CV to reflect that she also worked for the London Borough of Redbridge as a Land Charges Officer.

The abuse of position by Ms. Raja was reported to the council’s Human Resources department from an anonymous whistle-blower.

Following an investigation, the allegations were put to Raja who resigned shortly afterwards.

Councillor Liaquat Ali MBE, Cabinet Member for Transformation and Commercial Operations, said: “Waltham Forest Council takes allegations of fraud extremely seriously and we will take robust action against any members of staff who do not maintain the high ethical standards we expect.”

“This is an excellent example of our Fraud Team, HR, and legal department working together to ensure that residents know we will do everything in our power to enforce the highest standards of conduct from everyone at the Council.”

Raja pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court on April 13 to abusing her position as a Local Land Charges Manager and was sentenced to seven months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, on June, 21.