A SENIOR scientist for a multi-national coffee company stole £136,000 by faking invoices for translations he downloaded free from the Internet.

Oxford Crown Court heard Dr Satwinder Panesar, 52, a former chemist at Kraft Foods in Banbury, fraudulently charged the firm for 82 translations of foreign language patents.

The married father-of-three made 27 fake invoices to Kraft between 2002 and 2004 before channelling the cash through a third-party bank account to one in his own name.

Gideon Cammerman, prosecuting, said colleagues became suspicious when Panesar submitted different quotations for translations in a similar format and font.

He said Panesar had been in financial difficulties.

Panesar, who has since moved to Clackmannanshire, Scotland, earlier admitted 27 counts of obtaining money transfers by deception.

David Wolchover, defending, said Panesar paid back the money in full after he was sacked in April 2005.

He said: "It demonstrates a remarkable degree of self-awareness on his behalf to have overcome an enormous ethical hurdle once he embarked on this fraud."

Judge Mary Jane Mowat handed Panesar a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered him to pay £670 costs.