Boss Who Spent Embezzled £60,000 On Holidays And Shoes Ordered To Pay Back Just £1
A boss who embezzled over £60,0000 has been ordered to repay just £1 by a court.
Vicki Fortune, from Waterlooville, stole thousands shortly after joining a construction firm, spending the money on holidays and designer shoes.
Between August 2018 and December 2019, the 42-year-old stole £64,553.34, with over £4,500 being spent on flights, shoes, meals and presents.
A court heard that the 15-month spree left Architectural Louvre Products & Services (ALPS) struggling to stay afloat.
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Fortune, it was heard, 'spared no thought' for colleagues and the impact her actions could have had own their jobs when she stole.
After she was caught, Fortune claimed she needed the money after her divorce, having been left in £20,000 of debt and bailiffs knocking at her door.
In December last year, she was sentenced to 16 months in prison after admitting to fraud by false representation.
However, during a hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court, it was heard that the mum-of-two has 'no assets' and therefore can only afford to pay back just a 'nominal fee' of £1.
Speaking after the ruling, Mark Platten, the managing director of ALPS, said his company had managed to survive despite and he had accepted the fact he would never see that money again.
"It wasn't a trivial amount but we've got through to the other side of things now," said the 62-year-old.
"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."
Fortune was hired as a financial controller in 2018 but within a month was appointed company secretary.
She used company credit cards and falsified payments, sending money into four accounts belonging to her.
She was caught out by financial assistant Abigail Mayor, who then told Mr Platten what was going on.
Along with the pandemic, her actions led to four people at the firm being made redundant.
Back in December, prosecutor Matthew Lawson said Fortune broke the trust she was given.
He said: "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."
Jason Halsey, defending, said: "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."
Sentencing, Judge Timothy Mousley QC said: "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."
Topics: UK News
Dominic Smithers