Harvey Pearce was convicted of five counts of fraud by abuse of position, two counts of fraud by false representation and one count of theft by employee.

The court was told that in 2010 Pearce falsely represented that he was a qualified accountant in order to obtain a job as a finance manager at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield.

After concerns were raised about his work in September 2013, he was released from his employment.  The school then conducted an internal investigation which identified a number of fraudulent transactions.

This found Pearce had fraudulently paid himself expenses totaling almost £15,000, had used his school credit card to pay for personal items and union membership, had purchased two iPads on the school account, had overpaid himself more than £4,000 and had not deducted pension contributions from his salary.

In 2014 he applied for a job as finance manager at Diamond Light Source in Didcot. He again falsely represented that he was a qualified accountant, and worked at the company from June 2014 until the time of his arrest in September 2014.

Pearce pleaded guilty to earning almost £155,000 after obtaining both jobs by false representation and to obtaining more than £24,000 from the National Film and Television School by fraud and theft.

Detective Constable Katie Taylor of the Thames Valley Police’s economic crime unit said: ‘This investigation uncovered deceit and fraud against two local employers.

‘Harvey Pearce lied to obtain positions with them. He then betrayed the trust placed in him and abused his position to benefit himself.’

Pearce is set to be sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court on 7 June.