Boss who stole £150,000 from firm jailed
AN office manager stole more than £150,000 from her company and spent the money on ‘lavish’ designer holidays and clothes, police said.
Deceitful Gail Andrews’ campaign of theft spanned almost a decade.
She was only rumbled after family-run printing company Labelsun Ltd, based in Bredbury, appointed a new finance manager who began a financial audit.
A court heard mother-ofone Andrews, 48, had been regarded as a ‘model employee’ and ‘family friend’ to the managing director, Marc Bradley.
But over a nine-year period between 2009 and February last year, she took cash by falsifying invoices so money would go into her own personal bank account.
Her betrayal was unmasked after Mr Bradley’s wife was hired as a finance manager.
Andrews, of Ashton Road, Denton, Tameside, suddenly quit her job just 24 hours after the appointment and subsequent inquiries by the company revealed 118 suspected fraudulent transactions.
Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard the firm’s bank suspended the company account and gave the managing director and his fellow director 30 days to pay back any liabilities.
The company staved off possible liquidation by securing an arrangement with another bank.
In a statement to the court Mr Bradley said: “Gail had a huge responsibility and we treated her so well. She became a good family friend and I feel extremely disappointed and let down by her actions.
“If Gail was experiencing financial difficulties all she had to do was approach us. We thought we had a good employee in Gail and now feel deeply let down.”
Andrews pleaded guilty to one count of theft by an employee and at a sentencing hearing on Monday, she was jailed for two years and four months.
The judge, Recorder Ahmed Nadim, told her: “Your dishonesty created a substantial problem for the business. The bank they relied upon terminated an arrangement, the business could have gone into liquidation and the 13 employees could have lost their livelihoods. You were highly trusted and valued as a person and thought to be a model employee but you engaged in substantial dishonesty. There was no reason for you to convey this kind of behaviour other than that you were motivated by greed.”
Prosecutor Rachel Widdicombe said Andrews, who has a previous conviction for theft and deception, was in charge of general office administration and had sole access to the company’s banking.
She said: “The defendant was the only person who set up payments. She appeared to be a model employee and there had never been any issues with her apart from in the last 12 months when she made a few financial errors however her employers gave her the benefit of the doubt.
“Mr Bradley’s wife joined the company as the finance manager in February last year and the defendant handed in her resignation the next day.
“Money had been paid into the defendant’s account. She was listing invoices to businesses which were paid into her own bank account.
“There were 118 fraudulent payments made totalling £151,206.”
PC Jill Scott said outside court: “Gail Andrews stole hundreds of thousands of pounds and had a total disregard of the consequences of her selfish and deceitful actions, which could have resulted in many employees losing their jobs and livelihoods.
“Andrews did not have any reason for stealing this money other than to finance a better lifestyle for herself - spending the stolen money on lavish holidays and clothing.”
Police now want a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover her illgotten gains.