A former HSBC Holdings PLC employee was sentenced to 18 months in prison for aiding thieves in accessing customer accounts, Bloomberg News reported Oct. 4.

Liberty Staph, who worked in one of the bank's London branches, pleaded guilty to abusing her position by obtaining confidential data, which allowed thieves to access customer accounts and steal £67,000. She received £8,000 in her bank account after each instance of theft, according to the police.

The three customers who lost £67,000 were fully refunded by the bank.