£1.4m fraud ‘motivated by pure greed’

AFINANCE director took £1.4million from a Cornish business before spending the money on expensive cars and holidays.

Judge Simon Carr said Nicky Retallick didn’t steal to feed an addiction or ease financial woes as often seen in such cases, but he did so out of “pure greed” and to make himself seem more successful than he was.

Retallick, 37, of Threemilestone near Truro, appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentence having pleaded guilty to nine counts of fraud.

Prosecuting the case, Simon Burns described how Retallick started at Jambo Recruitment Ltd in Truro in 2007 and was in a position of trust responsible for company finances.

Mr Burns said: “He lived with his wife and three children and was paid £30,000 plus expenses.”

A personal assistant became suspicious over a £1,420 payment involving a London supplier.

Retallick was on holiday at the time but an investigation was carried out which revealed a payment at a Truro branch that ended up in Retallick’s account, even though the company banked in London.

Further investigation revealed Retallick made payments from company accounts into his own and that he used his position to conceal the numerous frauds as he was in charge of bulk payment at the time.

In total Retallick stole £1.4 million and as a result the company had to make redundancies and were unable to invest in the future. Retallick told lies to cover himself as staff went without pay rises and bonuses.

Mr Burns said: “The defendant spent the money on high value cars, foreign travel and extravagant living. He wanted people to believe he was more successful than he was.”

Representing Retallick, Adrian Chaplin said “he wishes he could turn back the clock”, adding “his criminal behaviour has resulted in the breakdown of his marriage which has hit him hard”.

Jailing Retallick for six years, Judge Simon Carr said: “You were employed by a local firm and had been for many years, in effect as a financial director. You had complete control of finances between 2010 and 2019 and systematically stole from the company.” He added: “Your actions were motivated by pure greed and a desire to live a lifestyle you could not afford to live and give the impression you were more successful than you were.”