An accountant nearly put top Liverpool restaurant chain 60 Hope Street Ltd out of business by stealing £74,000 to pay for her “hedonistic lifestyle”.
Helen Crompton, 42 also left Newton le Willows Sports Club fighting for survival after taking more than £45,000 from the organisation.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how the mum-of-two blew the money on shopping, gym fees, at jewellers, pubs and beauticians and on days out across the UK – including £7,000 on flying 10 members of her family to the Greek island of Rhodes for a week.
Crompton later tried to avoid court by sending a fake hospital letter claiming she was suffering from cancer.
Claire Jones, prosecuting, said Crompton took over as the accountant of 60 Hope Street limited, which owns three restaurants and employs more than 120 people, in July 2013.
Her bosses soon became concerned about her punctuality and attendance, and also received numerous calls from suppliers who had not been paid.
When they spoke to Crompton via email or text to ask for meetings she made excuses.
Miss Jones said the company’s owner Gary Manning called her on October 25, 2013.
She said: “This met with an international dialling tone – suggesting she was out of the country despite a text from her on that day suggesting she was in hospital.”
Hope Street’s former accountant was asked to investigate and he found Crompton had made 10 unauthorised payments to her personal account.
She had made another eight payments into bogus accounts supposedly held by suppliers.
Crompton used more than £10,000 to pay off debts she had run up as the treasurer of Newton le Willows Sports Club.
These came to light in August 2013 after Carlsberg Brewery said it had not been paid by the club.
When police informed the club of the 60 Hope Street Limited affair in November 2013, Crompton told its chairman “I haven’t done anything wrong, it’s all a mistake”.
But it emerged there was a discrepancy in takings totalling £45,022.
Mr Manning said Crompton left a trail of destruction and put his restaurants’ reputation in jeopardy.
He said they had to borrow money to continue trading and Crompton also lied to them about having cancer.
Liverpool Crown Court.
Newton le Willows Sports Club said they had to organise fundraising functions “merely to survive”.
Crompton – who was also receiving benefits – told police she had not “knowingly” done anything wrong.
Crompton, of Queens Park Close, Blackburn, admitted 26 counts of fraud and one of theft.
In 2011 she received a 20-week sentence suspended for 18 months in 2011 for fraud and theft after failing to carry out tax returns for a customer and stealing more than £4,000 from another business.
Paul Thompson, defending, said his client was trying to pay off an £8,000 credit card debt run up by her former husband and an indebted joint account, but she did not have any paperwork to prove this.
He confirmed her ex-partner was £7,000 in arrears in child support payments.
Judge Steven Everett said Crompton, who sobbed in court, had been “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.
He said Crompton blamed debts generated by her ex-husband for her financial situation and questioned whether she was “trying to play fast and loose with the court”.
He added: “Her payments don’t seem at the moment to be suggesting payment off of somebody else’s debts – they seem to be paying for a hedonistic lifestyle in reality.”
Judge Everett said 60 Hope Street Limited “nearly went under” because of her offences.
He jailed Crompton for three years and eight months. She received a 28-day prison sentence for breach of bail in respect of the fake cancer letter.
Afterwards a spokesperson for the co-owners of 60 Hope Street group said: “It’s always important to look at the positives and we’ve had incredibly strong family support for which we are extremely grateful.
“ I think we’ve shown great resilience in what’s been a very anxious and stressful, protracted period of time in waiting for today’s sentence. That said we are still shocked at the extent and nature of the fraud ranging from the sums of money involved to forged medical notes and feigning potentially terminal illness.”
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/