‘Greedy’ finance boss who stole more than £65,000 and splashed out on flights, holidays and designer shoes is ordered to pay back £1
- Vicki Fortune, 42, a finance boss who ‘spared no thought’ for colleagues at risk of losing their jobs as she booked weekends away is to pay back only £1
- The mother of two teenage boys was discovered by a junior accounts worker
- She claimed she was struggling after a divorce and owed bailiffs £20,000
- Architectural Louvre Products & Services had to lay off four members of staff
- She was jailed for 16 months as she admitted she was ‘out of control and greedy’
Vicky ‘Fortune’ has been found guilty of fraud but ordered to pay back only £1 (above) Vicky Fortune
A finance boss who embezzled over £60,000 and spent it on flights, holidays, and designer shoes has been ordered to pay back only £1.
Greedy’ Vicki Fortune, 42, funnelled thousands of pounds into her own bank accounts within weeks of joining a construction business which has worked on Westminster Palace, a court heard.
During her 15-month fraud campaign she ‘spared no thought’ for colleagues at risk of losing their jobs as she booked weekends away which left the company in dire straits.
When she was finally caught by Abigail Mayor, a junior accounts worker, she blamed it on being cash-strapped after a divorce and claimed she owed bailiffs £20,000.
Judge Timothy Mousley QC ruled that Ms Fortune, from Waterlooville, Hants, ‘went past that point’ and was being ‘greedy’ as he jailed her for 16 months in December last year after she admitted to fraud by false representation.
Portsmouth Crown Court, Hants, has heard she has ‘no assets’ so can only afford to pay back a ‘nominal fee’ of just £1, despite embezzling nearly £65,000 from Architectural Louvre Products & Services (ALPS).
After the hearing, Mark Platten, 62 the managing director of the architectural firm in Havant, Hants, said his company had managed to survive despite the loss of money but he had resigned himself to never being paid back.
He said: ‘It wasn’t a trivial amount but we’ve got through to the other side of things now.
‘Because of this and also the added pressure of Covid we had to let people go which was regrettable, so it has affected us, but we’ve managed it.’
In 2018 Ms Fortune, the mother of two teenage boys joined the family business as financial controller and within a month became the company secretary.
Jason Halsey, defending Ms Fortune, told the sentencing she was left short on money after a divorce and was ‘remorseful’.
He said: ‘Problems piled up… It left her very short and she was looking after two children and she ended up renting.
‘She said it was never her intention to keep the money and she would pay it back but she got too deep and the addiction became too much so she could not tell anyone.
‘She admitted that she was out of control and greedy.’
Prosecutor Matthew Lawson told the sentencing hearing in December: ‘As one of the most senior positions, she had overall responsibility for the accounts and was given full access to their bank accounts and credit cards.
‘Despite the trust placed upon her, within a few weeks of joining she began embezzling money from the company.’
As part of her fraud, she used company credit cards, falsified payments so money was sent to her four accounts, and duplicated invoices.
She stole a total of £64,553.34 between August 2018 and December 2019, with over £4,500 going on flights, shoes, meals and presents.
Newly hired financial assistant Abigail Mayor uncovered the fraud and reported it to Mr Platten.
Mr Platten previously told the court her fraud caused the business serious cash flow issues, caused negative relationships with suppliers, and left the company so short of cash it could not pay staff or provide bonuses.
Ms Fortune’s offending crippled the company’s finances going into the Covid-19 pandemic and it had to fire four members of staff.
Mr Platten said: ‘It’s caused a lot of stress trying to make sure the business could continue trading, it’s been very testing.’
She blamed the financial fraud on her problems after a divorce and claimed she owed bailiffs £20,000 (pictured) Vicky Fortune
Judge Timothy Mousley QC said: ‘Any source of money for you was vulnerable to your dishonesties and it doesn’t look like you held back from the amount you were looking to steal.
‘You had a high degree of trust imposed on you and these were blatant breaches.
‘You got away with it until a financial assistant discovered what was going on.
‘Some of the money was spent on holidays and expensive purchases.
‘It was a sophisticated fraud and had you not been discovered I’m quite sure you would have continued to defraud your employers.
‘It seems to me as you went about stealing this money you never spared a thought for other employees whose jobs were put at risk.’
She admitted to fraud by false representation and jailed for 16 months.
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