July 12, 2022
Rebecca Chalkley instructed by Polly Sprenger, partner head of Addleshaw Goddard’s Private Prosecutions team has secured a 4.5 year sentence against a dishonest former Managing Director of a global manufacturing company.
The defendant pleaded guilty to committing fraud by abuse of position against his former employer.
Following the defendant’s guilty plea in February, he repaid all defrauded sums to the private prosecutor, who was also awarded costs orders against the defendant and from Central Funds.
In addition to the custodial sentence, the defendant was also disqualified from acting as a company director for eight years.
Polly Sprenger, a Partner in the Global Investigations team of Addleshaw Goddard, said:
“This outcome serves as a powerful deterrent to those senior executives in positions of power who seek to exploit their position for their own dishonest benefit.”
Addleshaw Goddard, who also acted in a preceding employment matter in which the fraud was first discovered, worked with the company to recover evidence that had been deleted and destroyed, as well as interviewing and taking statements from more than a dozen witnesses. The evidence showed that the defendant had repeatedly falsified invoices and other accounting records to conceal his fraud, persuading suppliers to alter the descriptions of goods and services they provided to him for his personal benefit to appear as though they were for the company, over a period of at least ten years.
Rebecca Chalkley specialises in financial crime and regulation and has over 20 years of experience of financial and commercial wrongdoing, including fraud, money laundering, bribery and corruption and market abuse. She regularly advises and acts in both Private and Public Prosecutions, involving both individuals and corporates. In April this year she was awarded The Times “Lawyer of the Week” award for the successful prosecution of former Tennis Player Boris Becker.
The private prosecutor was represented by RLC member Rebecca Chalkley and Polly Sprenger of Addleshaw Goddard’s Private Prosecutions practice.
For more info please see: [Addleshaw Goddard]