City high flier who used Oyster trick to avoid train fares for six years is banned from working in financial services

Ban: Jonathan Burrows, 44
3 December 2015

A City high flier described as “the biggest fare dodger in history” after he avoided paying rail tickets reportedly worth almost £43,000 has been banned from working in financial services.

An investigation by a City watchdog found Jonathan Burrows, 44, a former managing director at US owned asset management company BlackRock, is not a “fit and proper” person to work in the investment industry.

Tracey McDermott, the director of enforcement and financial crime at the Financial Conduct Authority, said: “Burrows held a senior position within the financial services industry. His conduct fell short of the standards we expect. Approved persons must act with honesty and integrity at all times and, where they do not, we will take action.”

The married father of one was stopped by a ticket inspector at the exit gates of Cannon Street station last November.

He was found to have dodged the £21.50 daily fare from the unmanned station at Stonegate in East Sussex by tapping out with an Oyster card on his arrival in London, paying the maximum fare of £7.20 rather than buying the required ticket for £21.50.

Further investigations revealed the scam had been going on since 2008, saving Mr Burrows, who owned two country homes worth £4 million, £42,550. Mr Burrows, whose earning power was estimated at up to £1 million a year, paid up promptly in an attempt to avoid publicity but the story emerged in April.

British Transport Police then contacted rail operator Southeastern and began a criminal investigation. He quit his job in August after being suspended by BlackRock.

In a statement, Mr Burrows said: “I have always recognised that what I did was foolish. I have apologised to all concerned and reiterate that apology publicly today.

“The settlement I made with Southeastern in March 2014 was for an amount significantly in excess of the value of the fares not paid by me on the small number of occasions that I failed to pay. Indeed the size of the settlement could be said to have led to a distorted perception of the scale of my wrong-doing. However, that does not change the fact that what I did was wrong, and I accept that.

“In view of this, I have been told by the British Transport Police that they do not regard it as being in the public interest to pursue a case against me.

“While I respect the FCA’s decision today, I also regret it, coming as it did after a 20 year career in the City that was without blemish. I recognise that the FCA has on its plate more profound wrong-doing than mine in the financial services sector, and I am sorry that my case has taken up its time at this critical juncture for the future of the City and its reputation.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in