staffordshire md spent £600k of company cash to fund lavish lifestyle

a coping with director used the stafford enterprise he labored for as a “piggy bank” to fund his pricey lifestyle. steven powell, 64, spent £600,000 on luxury gadgets and excusrsions.

mr powell additionally abused his function via splashing the company’s cash on items for himself, consisting of £four,000 at a men’s keep in stafford, which bought clothing for outdoor interests. he also secured jobs for his wife and stepson which were not honestly required.

further, the agency’s cash changed into used to fund events together with his stepdaughter’s party, costing £2,394. powell spent almost £eight,500 at wine merchants in telford and nearly £21,000 on capturing trips he befell as corporate hospitality.

prosecuting at birmingham crown court docket turned into rebecca chalkley. she said powell had been the dealing with director of byotronic glass uk limited between march 2001 and november 2019.

the organisation furnished industrial equipment and parts used to make glass. pass over chalkley told the court: “for that entire length he became the usage of the company to fund his life-style.

“in his function he became entrusted with the organisation’s budget and abused that believe. “he treated byotronic as his own fiefdom, his very own piggy financial institution.”

powell lived in bellhurst grange, bellhurst lane, in wheaton aston in stafford, a pricey agricultural assets. at the identical time he became handled extraordinarily well by the organisation receiving a yearly profits of £104,000 and became given a discretionary bonus which in 2019 changed into £124,000.

the belongings had outbuildings as well as 4 bedrooms, all with en suite toilets, a swimming pool, a sauna, a hot tub, a health club and a eating hall able to seating sixteen people. miss chalkley said that even the defendant’s generous income could now not were enough to hold this lifestyle and that it were paid for the usage of byotronic’s finances.

bills were additionally made for curler shutter doors for an commercial constructing at the belongings, a water softening machine, an air conditioning system and workshop heater.

she said powell was the director of every other company known as srp developments limited which he used as a car to help conceal what he was doing and that he additionally created false invoices while work become being accomplished at the assets by contractors.

powell, she said, become absent lots of the time at the same time as still taking the rewards from the business. miss chalkley said the topics came to mild following an internal investigation and that when his dismissal the defendant burnt files and deleted digital statistics.

powell, who had previously admitted a price of fraud among january 2010 and november 2019 changed into jailed for four-and-a -1/2 years. he become also banned from being the director of any enterprise for 8 years and ordered to pay £five,000 charges.

in passing sentence recorder rebecca wade said: “your motivation turned into not anything aside from greed.” she stated shareholders and personnel have been affected and went on: “i am glad that your offending has had a tremendous detrimental impact on the commercial enterprise.”

she said she had taken into consideration powell become of previous proper person, he changed into taken into consideration to be a kind and caring character. he changed into remorseful and that she had examine “glowing” testimonials.