AN ACCOUNTANT who plundered £250,000 from a leading barristers’ chambers to fund a lavish lifestyle has been jailed for seven years.

Ayaz Ali, 50, forged signatures on at least 41 cheques from 18 Red Lion Court Chambers worth £252,919.33 between May 2013 and March last year.

Red Lion Court is currently headed by Max Hill QC, a well-known prosecutor in high-profile murder and terrorism cases and former chairman of the Criminal Bar Association.

Ali also fleeced PR company Garnett Keeler out of almost £98,000, Wide Area Communications out of more than £78,000, and nearly £14,000 from Peppermint Designer Kids Limited, the court heard.

At Southwark Crown Court, Ali, of Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, admitted two counts of fraud by abuse of position and two counts of fraud by false representation. He was jailed for seven years and three months.

Judge Anthony Leonard QC said: “Each fraud was committed on the people or businesses that employed you and each fraud involved a gross breach of trust.’

Website design business Wide Area Communications had been “brought to its knees” by Ali, the judge said.

Following his arrest in 2011, Ali was released on bail and went on to drain three more companies.

Prosecutor Heather Hope said: “Mr Ali was engaged in a very cynical and systematic draining of each of these companies’ finances for his own benefit or indeed to pay off debts he had outstanding elsewhere.”

Ali secured a job with Red Lion Court Chambers and in less than a year funnelled £252,919.33 into his pocket using 42 bogus cheques.

Ali was netting a £40,000 salary, but still manipulated the systems. His crimes were only discovered by the legal firm after a partner in a firm of solicitors confided that Ali was the subject of a cash freezing order.

Robert Shaw, for Ali, said he was “deeply ashamed”. “He came under very serious financial stress, he didn’t take that very well and he began to gamble, taking loans from payday lenders and from loan sharks directly.”