Workers lost jobs due to huge fraud by woman
SHE HAS NOW PAID FOR WHAT POLICE SAID WAS AN APPALLING CRIME AFTER A JUDGE PUT HER BEHIND BARS FOR 16 MONTHS
A BURTON woman who admitted stealing more than half a million pounds from a business where she worked has been jailed.
Lindsay Caldicott, 52, of Poplar Gardens, Burton, stole around £520,000 to fund an extravagant lifestyle at the expense of her colleagues who lost their jobs when the firm went into liquidation possibly due to her ongoing fraud, a court was told.
She appeared at Stafford Crown Court where she pleaded guilty to dishonestly appropriating around £520,000 from SPA Technique Ltd in Tamworth Road, Lichfield.
She was sentenced to 16 months in prison. The firm’s managing director said he was shocked to discovered what had happened and had thought of her as a close friend.
Richard Barnes, managing director of SPA Design, said: “Lindsay Caldicott worked for me for over 24 years and was trusted with everything I had and considered a close friend.
“To find over two years ago she was guilty of stealing between £9,000 and £12,000 a month for years was a great shock.
“Good, hard working staff lost their jobs through her dishonesty. She perpetrated a clever fraud of keeping two sets of books that hid cash taken and that was allocated to unpaid suppliers.
“She had multiple new cars and a holiday home on the Yorkshire coast.”
The court heard that Caldicott was in a position of trust and managed the company’s accounts. She abused this trust to take around £520,000 between October 2009 and June 2018. She used the money to fund a lifestyle well in excess of her legitimate income.
Caldicott stole the money by transferring money from the business into bank and credit card accounts. She then covered up these payments by way of false accounting.
The court was told that in 2015-16 the company was trading as SPA Automotive Ltd when it then went into liquidation - most likely as a result of the on-going fraud which had not been discovered at that stage.
The fraud came to light towards the end of May 2018 shortly after which Caldicott resigned from the company. In an interview with detectives Caldicott admitted to stealing £478,000. She has repaid a significant amount of the stolen money through a civil settlement agreement.
Detective Constable Nicholas Gorman, of Staffordshire Police, said: “This was a serious and sustained fraud which was perpetrated over several years and caused significant damage to a business in Staffordshire.
“It was an appalling breach of trust and, although Caldicott has repaid part of the sum, we are glad she has been sentenced for her actions.”
Good, hard working staff lost their jobs through her dishonesty
Richard Barnes