Betrayed by my own accountant’s £500k fraud (From Gazette)

Betrayed by my own accountant’s £500k fraud

9:00am Sunday 29th January 2012 in News

Devastated - Clive Jones

A BUSINESSMAN says he was devastated when he discovered his company’s own accountant had stolen more than £500,000 from the firm.

Clive Jones, 62, said the first he knew of any money going missing was when Christopher Bailey made a confession in a pub car park.

Mr Jones, who owns Aerofloor, on Colchester’s Whitehall Industrial Estate, said Bailey had asked to meet him in the Albert pub car park, in Witham.

Mr Jones, who built his flooring firm up from scratch, said: “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Because of the apparent distress he was in, I invited him and his wife to my house for a cup of tea. After 20 minutes I said ‘There’s nothing more for us to say and I think it’s best you leave and I do what I have to do’.”

Bailey, 59, of Parley Beams Cottages, Earls Colne, admitted charges of false accounting, fraud and deception when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday.

The court heard he falsified accounts between May 28, 2004 and April 17, 2011, and made payments to himself.

Bailey was bailed until he is sentenced next month.

Judge Anthony Goldstaub QC told Bailey a prison sentence was inevitable because of the amount of money involved.

Dad-of-two Bailey had been working as a company accountant for Aerofloor at the time.

Mr Jones, from Wickham Bishops, said: “I just can’t imagine how anyone can be so treacherous.

“Everyone who works here is a victim of this.

“Staff have missed out on bonuses and had a pay freeze.

“It’s devastating.”

It is thought Bailey spent the stolen money on skiing holidays, cars, a jacuzzi and a marine fish tank.

The total amount of money involved in the charges is £514,245.

The court heard Bailey is facing proceedings in the civil courts and is also likely to face a proceeds of crime investigation once he is sentenced.