Costly lie | Citibank employee sacked for claiming partner's lunch on business expenses

Citibank has won an employment tribunal against one of its former employees who claimed they were unfairly dismissed for expensing their partner’s lunch.

Szabolc Fekete, a senior associate for EMEA regulatory exam management, who had been working at the bank for eight years, was dismissed after managers started to question his expenses from a work trip to Amsterdam last July.

Despite being below the €100 allowance, those approving his expenses challenged the fact his receipts contained two sandwiches, two coffees and another drink. Upon this, an investigation was conducted into Fekete’s expenses.

Initially, the former Citi employee claimed all items were for himself, saying the coffees were ‘small’ and the other sandwich was meant for his dinner later in the day.