Unmasked: High-flying City asset manager who became 'biggest fare dodger in history' by avoiding £43,000 in rail tickets (then paid up in 3 days to avoid a fuss)
Jonathan Burrows, 44, skipped train fare from Kent to London for five years
Caught out after using Oyster card to pay just £7.20 a day for long commute
Mr Burrows hoped to avoid publicity by paying up quickly when found out
But police and City regulator heard of the story and started to investigate
The £1million-a-year asset manager was suspended by employers last week
But when pressed on the scam he quit, ending probe into his conduct
By Neil Sears and Stephen Wright and Claire Ellicott
Published: 00:23, 2 August 2014 | Updated: 00:43, 2 August 2014
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Career in tatters: Jonathan Burrows has resigned from his job with asset managers BlackRock
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Career in tatters: Jonathan Burrows has resigned from his job with asset managers BlackRock
With two country mansions worth £4million and a salary of up to £1million, you’d think Jonathan Burrows could afford the £21.50 rail fare from his home to London.
But he can today be unmasked as the mystery fare dodger of East Sussex who hit the news after settling a £43,000 bill for unpaid tickets over five years.
The 44-year-old investment executive is thought to be the biggest fare dodger in history.
He had hoped to avoid prosecution and publicity by reimbursing Southeastern trains just three days after being caught by a ticket inspector last November.
Law-abiding commuters were outraged when the story broke in April that the rail firm had allowed him to quietly settle the allegations without being prosecuted.
He is said to have told Southeastern he wanted his name kept secret because of the impact the scandal could have on his job.
But the Mail can reveal that his career is in tatters after British Transport Police read the story in the Press and began investigating.
The news also came to the attention of City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority, with which Mr Burrows was registered.
It started its own probe over concerns that his actions showed a lack of probity that could make him unsuitable for City work.
But it wasn’t until last week that he warned bosses at asset management firm BlackRock – who knew nothing of his fare-dodging shame – that they might be getting a call from the regulator.
The married father of one was suspended from his job as a managing director and when BlackRock pressed him on the nature of the investigation he quit.
Although his resignation brought the FCA probe to an end, the scandal means he is unlikely to be able to work in finance again.
A City source told the Mail: ‘Burrows was a very senior fund manager with BlackRock, dealing with hundreds of millions of pounds on a daily basis. But only last week he suddenly told his bosses, “The FCA might give you a call”.
‘He only let slip in passing that it was about this £40,000 fare-dodging payment. They suspended him immediately, but he refused to explain anything at all about the fare-dodging – and when more questions were asked he resigned without a payoff.
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‘I’m amazed the FCA aren’t continuing their investigations even though he’s no longer registered with them. If they did, and found he has dodged rail fares for five years, I’d expect him to be barred from the industry for life. Even as it is I doubt he’ll ever be able to work in the industry again.
‘He won’t get much sympathy, but he has lost his livelihood.’
Barred for life? One City source told the Mail that Mr Burrows could struggle to find work again
Barred for life? One City source told the Mail that Mr Burrows could struggle to find work again
Dodge: Mr Burrows managed to commute from Stonegate to central London for just £7.20 a day because his home station had no barriers
Porsche-driving Mr Burrows owns two huge, mortgage-free mansions in the East Sussex countryside – a £1million house near Wadhurst and his impressive home near the village of Stonegate, which he bought for £2.725million in 2011.
He shares the Victorian property – which boasts acres of landscaped grounds, ponds and a tennis court – with his wife Louise and their young child in an isolated spot not far from Stonegate station.
Last night a Range Rover and a £30,000 Land Rover Freelander could be seen at the property.
His commuting scam was uncovered last year when a ticket inspector at London’s Cannon Street station, close to Mr Burrows’ office, saw him swiping through the ticket barriers with his pre-paid Oyster travel card.
The inspector realised Mr Burrows had been charged only £7.20 – the modest penalty imposed when a passenger has failed to swipe in at the start of a journey.
Mr Burrows admitted having failed to use his Oyster card to tap in for five journeys between London Bridge – where he got off his train from East Sussex – and Cannon Street, which should have cost him just £2.30 a time.
However, further inquiries revealed that until 2008 Mr Burrows had been buying an annual season ticket from Stonegate, which has no ticket barriers, to Cannon Street, which costs around £4,500 a year for standard class. A standard daily single fare is £21.50.
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Rural: Pictured is Stonegate station, from which Mr Burrows dodged his fares for years
He had then stopped buying season tickets, but simply continued working in London, apparently only paying £7.20 for the brief final leg of his long train journey.
Southeastern told Mr Burrows he owed them £42,550 in unpaid fares, plus £450 in legal costs.
Mr Burrows paid up promptly, apparently hoping that would be the end of the affair and no one would find out what he had done. But in April the tale emerged, and British Transport Police contacted Southeastern and began a criminal investigation.
Last night, BlackRock spokesman Jonathan Mullen said: ‘Jonathan Burrows has left BlackRock.
‘What he is alleged to have done is totally contrary to our values and principles.’
Asked about the case by the Mail, Mr Burrows said: ‘Dunno what you’re talking about.’
British Transport Police and Southeastern said they were still investigating.
An FCA spokesman said that when anyone applies for fresh authorisation, ‘past misconduct will be taken into consideration’, adding: ‘That doesn’t have to be a criminal record, it can be anything that calls into question someone’s fitness and propriety to work in the industry.’
But I'm sure the person in question will not be posting here for advice! )
