SON ‘DEFRAUDED OWN MOTHER OF £137,000’
AFINANCIAL adviser who was given more than £130,000 by his mother to invest for her blew it on gambling, a court has heard.
Prosecutors allege Simon Haydock, 49, of Cardiff, was paid £137,338.62 by his mother Geraldine Haydock after she sold her home in Neath so he could invest it in stocks and shares on her behalf. But it is alleged the defendant pocketed the money for himself – giving some to his wife and using the rest on financial spread betting which would see him gambling up to £10,000 at a time.
A trial at Newport Crown Court yesterday heard that within a month of the £137,000 being paid into Haydock’s account in December 2010 his bank account had gone down to £9,600.
Haydock, owner of Cascade Wealth Management in Cardiff, claims the money from his mother was given to him as a gift and he was free to do with it as he wished.
The defendant, of Matthysens Way, Trowbridge, denies one count of fraud between December 2010 and July 2014.
Prosecutor Nicholas Gareth Jones said: “When the defendant was arrested he told the police he worked as a financial adviser, initially for the Barclays banking group, the Sunday Group and another company called Park Row, when he became managing director and the owner of his own company called Cascade Wealth Management, based in Cardiff.
“He told police he was a chartered financial planner. Such a job entails investing clients money, if the client agrees, in various stocks, shares, insurances, funds and pension funds, that sort of thing.
“An independent financial adviser gets his money via a percentage or by way of a fee, but his job is to make money for the client.
“What he’s not entitled to do is to spend the client’s money on his own behalf or benefit.”
Mr Jones took the court through Haydock’s bank statements after his mother’s £137,000 was paid into his account in December 2010.
On December 29 a sum of £2,100 was used to pay a credit card, £9,899 was transferred, and two payments of £2,500 were made to betting company called IG Index.
A payment of £10,000 was made to IG Index on December 30 and another £10,000 to IG Index on December 31, the court heard.
On January 5 Haydock paid his wife Ceri Haydock £10,000 and paid IG Index £10,000.
On January 7 Haydock paid Ceri Haydock £20,000 and some smaller amounts of £200 and £100 were paid to betting company Betfred.
On January 17, 18, 19 and 20, sums of £5,000 and £10,000 were paid to IG Index while on January 18 and 20, Haydock gave his wife £7,800 and £10,000 respectively.
In February 2011 he made further payments to IG Index and Ceri Haydock including a £20,000 on February 17 to his wife and two payments of £2,000 to ID Index on February 24.
Mr Jones said: “That is what he’s doing with his mother’s money. Far from investing it as promised he’s given it to his wife and, the prosecution say, to gambling.”
From April 2011 Haydock paid his mother a sum of £2,000 and then proceeded to pay her £567 a month from the account belonging to Cascade Wealth Management.
This continued until May 2012 when the monthly payment came down to £346. This continued until June 2014 when a cheque paid on June 4 bounced. This was the last attempted payment received by Mrs Haydock from her son.
The defendant claimed these payments were due to Mrs Haydock being employed by Cascade on an unofficial basis for secretarial work but this was denied by her.
In 2015 Mrs Haydock contacted the police after she was unable to get her money back from her son.
Mr Jones showed a note to the jury dated from January 2018, which was given by Haydock to his uncle Joseph Grey who gave it to Mrs Haydock.
It said: “Dear Mum, firstly I am really sorry about what’s happened and I hope you will forgive me. I promise to pay you £500 a month for household expenses. I am sorry to put you through this, love Simon.”
At the trial Mrs Haydock gave evidence to the jury.
She said: “I asked Simon to invest the money. When my daughter went to Australia I was going to live in Cardiff to live near Simon and his family.
“If he could just invest for the year it would give me a bit of time to know what to do because I was renting in Cardiff.
“I didn’t know how he was going to invest it or where – he was a financial adviser and I put my trust in that.”
She added: “I contacted Simon on numerous occasions asking ‘Please can I have my money back?’ and there was no response. No matter how I tried to help him there was no response from him and that’s why I had to come to court because I was getting no response from him.
“I don’t want him to go to prison – I just want my money back.”
Defence barrister Harry Baker asked Mrs Haydock if the defendant was the “spitting image” of his father, who she had an acrimonious split from, and if it was for that reason their relationship was difficult.
“Whereas his brother and sister, you are easier in their company,” Mr Baker added.
Mrs Haydock said: “Simon went with his father and and Tim and Cathy came with me. He was my son and I love him and I still do. I think it was the distance but I can’t interpret that as I didn’t get on with him.”
The trial continues.