£300K FRAUD COMMITTED BY WEALTHY MAN TO ‘FAN HIS OWN EGO’
BUSINESSMAN SIPHONED CASH FROM CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
A RESPECTED businessman’s passion for his club Hull KR proved his undoing after he was almost jailed for fraudulently obtaining £300,000 from a charitable foundation.
Marc Hackney, 52, had set up his successful wealth management company, Vobis, in 2009 and built up an A-list client base of celebrities and sports stars.
But while Hackney, of Noseley Way in Kingswood, had plenty of assets, he had little in the way of immediate cash to hand.
Being a director at Hull KR put a financial strain on him, but he did not want to give up his dream position on the board and began to hatch a plot to gain the liquidity he needed.
Being a respected businessman and previously a club sponsor, the Hull KR board had no idea Hackney’s money was coming from illegal means.
After taking on the management of a client’s charitable foundation set up to help fund Great Ormond Street Hospital and Cancer Research, Hackney saw an opportunity to gain immediate cash to help with his personal projects.
The client, then a 79-year-old woman, had put more than £1m into the foundation.
Hackney set up a bank account which allowed him to make withdrawals from the foundation and, not only failed to consult with the other trustee, but even forged her signature.
Then, between January 1, 2018, and March 31, 2018, he began making withdrawals which totalled £300,000. A further two attempts were made to withdraw £100,000 on each occasion.
He appeared at Hull Crown Court on Tuesday having previously pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and one of forgery.
Neil Coxon, prosecuting, told the court the idea was to use the interest from the £1m foundation to help fund the client’s chosen charities.
But once Hackney set up the account at the end of 2017, he began siphoning cash.
The bank contacted Hackney to query the client’s signature. He told them she suffered from Parkinson’s disease and her handwriting could be shaky. The explanation was accepted by the bank, but this was a lie.
On February 1, 2018, Hackney withdrew £75,000 from the account and then withdrew the same amount three more times that month.
In March, there were two further attempts to withdraw £100,000.
In August 2018, the client was shown the form for the bank account and confirmed it was not her signature and she did not recognise the form.
Her solicitors carried out a review of the foundation, which uncovered Hackney’s fraud and forgery.
In all, Hackney had ploughed more than £100,000 into Hull KR. He also paid £4,000 to then KR player Shaun Lunt.
On top of that, he used the cash he fraudulently obtained to pay his own taxes and put some towards builders carrying out an extension of the Vobis building in east Hull.
Hackney claimed his investments were loans which would provide better interest in the long run for the foundation.
However, the court heard Hull KR owner Neil Hudgell said the loans Hackney provided to the club were effectively gifts, as the club would only be in a position to pay back the loans if there was a surplus at the end of the financial year.
But Mr Hudgell said there had never been a surplus in 15 years at the club, which was always run at a loss.
Hackney was twice interviewed by the police but gave “no comment” each time.
Hackney’s victim, now 81, provided a victim impact statement.
In it she said: “I did not discover there had been no charity donations made for some time and when I found out, I was horrified and distressed.
“It is distressing to think I had been misled.
“I trusted his judgment.
“It has caused me significant worry and upset. I think time and again about how I have been betrayed.
“I never expected the fund to be used by a trustee for personal matters.
“I am devastated and this left me more cautious and less trusting of people and I am sorry to feel that way.”
Graham Sullivan, defending, told the court all the money has since been repaid with interest, so no one has lost out.
Hackney had to sell his shares in Vobis and liquidate other assets to pay back the money.
Mr Sullivan said: “This is a man who is asset rich but cash poor.
“He thought he could use the foundation to deal with this temporary deficiency in cash, but it proved a misstep.
“He undertook his role as a board member at Hull KR with all the enthusiasm of a supporter, but he got out of his depth.
“He thought he would need to provide £10,000 a month as a member of the board, but it proved to be more.”
Mr Sullivan argued Hackney was not someone who took the money with no intention of paying it back. While he would benefit, he believed what he was doing would ultimately benefit others, too, including the foundation.
Hackney, Mr Sullivan said, was in the process of helping refinance Hull KR to release £1m and said he would have paid the foundation back at that point.
He also said Hackney was planning to remortgage his house to release more cash.
Mr Sullivan said: “My client is genuinely remorseful. He is sorry because of the effect it has had on his reputation, both professionally and in the community.
“But he is more sorry for the impact it has had on others, first and
foremost his former client and her foundation.
“At the time he committed the offences, he was also in emotional stress. His dad had just died and he was suffering other personal issues.
“It seems to have coincided with his involvement with Hull KR, although that is not to blame the club in any way. He got out of his depth, but did not want to lose his position on the club’s board.
“He has no previous conviction and this was totally out of character.
“He has been the chairman of a local amateur rugby club for three years and those at the club speak very positively about the defendant.”
Mr Sullivan also said Hackney was a very good father to his three young children and had been the primary carer for much of the past 12 months.
But Judge Gurdial Singh was hugely critical of Hackney.
He said: “You are of previous good character and have many good references. I also note your personal circumstances and that you have three young children.
“But you put money into Hull KR to fan your own ego and to show you had the money to do so. There was no charitable element to that at all.
“You used the charitable foundation as your own personal piggy bank and left the other trustee with no knowledge you had forged her signature.
“I actually regard the fact you were able to pay it back as an aggravating feature, as it shows you didn’t need to take the money in the first place.”
In a dramatic 11th hour change of heart, Judge Singh revealed he was not going to send Hackney straight to prison.
He said: “Think of a single mum in court for benefit fraud amounting to a few thousand pounds who is sent to prison.
“What message am I sending out if I don’t jail you having fraudulently gained £300,000? It would appear it is one rule for the rich and one for everyone else.
“Until about five minutes ago, I had decided to lock you up, but I am just persuaded to suspend the sentence.
“It may cause deep disquiet to some members of the public who will rightly believe you deserve to go to jail.
“But I accept you have lost your reputation, employment and good character.
“I have not forgotten that single mum and, in a way, suspending the sentence still sticks in my craw.”
Hackney was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, for each offence to run concurrently. He will also have to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.
I actually regard the fact you were able to pay it back as an aggravating feature, as it shows you didn’t need to take the money in the first place
Judge Gurdial Singh