Four-year jail sentence for systematic fraud

THE former finance manager of a once-flourishing business in Devon has been jailed for swindling almost £1 million from its accounts.

Clare Roberts, 50, abused her position at Moore and Moore Design Ltd, a luxury home accessories business in Witheridge, by siphoning about £100,000 a year into her own bank accounts.

When the business started to struggle, she convinced the owners to take out loans from family, friends and the bank to keep it afloat. But she continued to steal much of the money as soon as it appeared, spending it all on herself, her family, holidays and everyday living.

The business, trading as Helen Moore, was a vital part of the local community and once employed 50 people. But it was brought to its knees and employees were laid off without pay while Roberts continued to pocket vast sums of cash.

Exeter Crown Court was told the extent of the dishonesty was staggering. Helen Moore, the owner of the company, said Roberts had managed to dupe her for many years. “She spent eight years ripping our business apart, brick by brick,” she said. “Our lives will never be the same again.”

Roberts admitted two counts of fraud by abuse of position and was jailed for four years. Prosecutor Lee Bremridge said the offences covered a period between December, 2010, and July, 2019, when Roberts was employed first as a part-time bookkeeper at Moore and Moore Ltd and then permanently as a finance director. He said the company had been in existence for nearly 40 years, selling luxury items for the home, when Roberts was given a job on the basis of her strong CV and general appearance as an effective and trustworthy member of the community.

In 2011, the business was thriving and growing in terms of sales, “but in the years that followed things began to change,” said the prosecutor. Roberts advised Mrs Moore to borrow cash until sales increased. “On that advice, Helen Moore did so from family, friends and the bank,” Mr Bremridge added.

The court was told individuals paid sums in the region of £6,000 to the company to help it survive and pay staff. Some of the money went direct to Roberts, and some she directed into family accounts she had access to. During crisis meetings to discuss the declining financial fortunes of the company, Roberts reassured the owner it would recover and was working hard herself to make sure it happened and everybody would be paid back.

“I trusted her and she was totally convincing,” Mrs Moore said. Roberts encouraged her to take out more loans, but it was not until 2018 that the bank stepped in and said a finance director should work with Roberts to get the company back on track. He expressed concerns about the competency of Roberts, but at that stage there was no reason to doubt her integrity.

It was only when one of Mrs Moore’s friends agreed to invest on condition he examined the books first that her fraud began to unravel. He told Mrs Moore the accounts were in a mess. The owner went through them herself and found excessively large loan repayments being made to Roberts. When confronted, Roberts said the money was for extra hours she had worked but could produce no written record.

“Helen Moore confronted her about astonishing amounts of money at a time when 17 other members of staff had been laid off for several weeks without pay,” said Mr Bremridge. Roberts said she had been unwell with depression and money problems and had worked more hours than she had claimed.

“The reality is that that Clare Roberts had been swindling the company out of hundreds and thousands of pounds over the course of many years,” the prosecutor added.

Mr Peter Lownds, defending, said Roberts had led a law abiding life for 40 years and the offences had been triggered by her own financial difficulties. She accepted she had been dishonest and was very sorry.

Judge David Evans said: “What you did was use your position of trust and the access you had to the company’s financial systems to remove money from the company bank accounts and transfer it into your own or bank accounts to which you access. Your dishonesty is startling in its depth and persistence.”