A well-known businessman has been jailed for stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds from a hotel after it was destroyed by a fire.
Simon Matthews-Williams was previously a successful hotelier who owned sites such as Liverpool city centre's waterfront Crowne Plaza, the £15million Hotel Indigo on Chapel Street and James Street's three-star Days Inn. But the 62-year-old is now beginning a 28-month prison sentence after abusing his position of trust to transfer nearly £800,000 out of the bank account of one of his former companies and never paying the huge sum back.
A trial at Liverpool Crown Court previously heard that the "experienced company director" was a minor stakeholder in the Gateway to Wales Hotel, near to the A494 in Deeside, North Wales. By early 2019 though, Matthews-Williams "no longer had any role" in the business and "had long given up any financial interest or management in the hotel".
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However, he still retained access to its banking facilities. And on five separate occasions, he made payments of just under £200,000 into another of his company's accounts before transferring the total of £794,779 onwards to himself and his family members "to pay bills that he was being pressed to pay".
Ben Jones, prosecuting, described how "very successful Scandinavian businessman" Bjorn Parkander was the primary investor in the Gateway to Wales. Matthews-Williams' Sanguine Hospitality Limited "initially managed the day-to-day activities of the hotel", but this was taken over by an unconnected company called Black and White Hospitality Limited in 2015.
Barbara Holtaway had been employed by SHL to manage its payroll and accounting activities, and subsequently continued to do so for the Gateway to Wales as a temporary employee for Black and White. When she went on bereavement leave on February 15, 2019, Matthews-Williams was able to "misuse her access" to the hotel's bank accounts - making the first of his transfers only three days later, and continuing to do so into the following month.
Mr Jones said: "The only vague and ongoing link between the defendant and the Gateway to Wales Hotel was the fact that Mrs Holtaway continued to act as a temporary employee for Black and White by continuing to do the payroll, using the same electronic device to activate banking services. Because people running the companies were well known to each other and could - they thought - trust each other, there was no change in the banking arrangements.
"So, Mrs Holtaway and indeed the defendant could in theory still access the Gateway's bank account. The point here is that the defendant clearly knew that he shouldn’t, because he no longer had any business, financial or management role in the Gateway."
After a "devastating" fire at the hotel in December 2017 due to an electrical fault, Mr Parkander received a £2.1m insurance payout in January 2019. Matthews-Williams, of Vyner Road in Bidston, subsequently helped himself to more than a third of this sum.
He claimed that this was due to an ongoing dispute with Downing Wealth Management (DWM), which had assisted in the management of Mr Parkander's investments. Matthews-Williams, who is also known as Richard Mathews-Williams, was involved in a joint venture with a firm - namely London City Shopping Limited - which "had absolutely nothing to do with Mr Parkander".
He and Downing had an equal 50/50 interest in the scheme, which involved attempts to develop a hotel in the capital. But the project failed, leaving Matthews-Williams "feeling that he was owed up to £1.6m" by DWM.
Mr Jones described how he felt "somehow entitled to take the money" from Gateway because Downing managed the hotel on behalf of Mr Parkander. He then made the bank transfers "in order to put pressure on them to settle the separate financial dispute and to ensure that he had the means to pay any lawyers that might be needed to oppose Downing".
Matthews-Williams termed this as a "short-term, inter-company loan which he intended to pay back immediately". The funds were moved to LCSL's account, then "immediately" onwards to Sanguine and subsequently to him and his family. SHL had been £14,500 overdrawn beforehand, but made payments to suppliers in the following days in a "classic case of money laundering to fund debts".
Mr Jones added: "Yes, he had the physical ability to still access the Gateway to Wales Hotel's bank account after his company Sanguine stopped managing the hotel. But no he did not have the legal right to take advantage of that ability to treat the hotel’s money as his own.
"The fact is that after Black and White took over the management of the hotel, the defendant played no more role in its management and had no financial interest or any other legal or moral interest in the hotel. The fact that the company the defendant had a dispute with, Downing, also advised Mr Parkander, the owner of the hotel, is a matter of coincidence only and again gave the defendant no right to treat the hotel's money as his own.
"He took advantage of the lax security on the account and the fact that he was not removed from the list of people being able to access the hotel’s account when his own company stopped managing the hotel. The fact that he carried out the fraud when Mrs Holtaway was on leave is telling.
"He knew that she had access to the bank account and the device needed to access the bank account. The route that the money then took is equally telling, going to pay off debts and into personal accounts linked to himself.
"We suggest the defendant had no intention of paying back anyone. He did not in fact pay anyone back and only made this suggestion when the fraud was discovered."
In a statement which was read to the court, Mr Parkander described how he "feels very stupid, having blindly put faith" in Matthews-Williams. He added that he "felt a significant amount of betrayal".
Matthews-Williams - who has no previous convictions - was a Holiday Inn franchisee whose portfolio also boasted branches of Doubletree by Hilton and Days Inn in Chester, a Marco Pierre White restaurant and guest house in Aughton and events venue West Tower near Ormskirk.
Robert Dudley, defending, said his client had attempted to pay £200,000 of the money back but was prevented from doing so due to ongoing court proceedings. He added: "The offences were borne out of frustration with Downing and the perception that it was undermining the financial position of Sanguine.
"This was an intention to get Downing around the table. There was no intention to steal money from Mr Parkander or the Gateway.
"Clearly, he was wrong. This is a single incident which has ended his business career, which at the time has been a very successful business career."
Judge Stuart Driver KC imprisoned Matthews-Williams today, Monday, after he was found guilty of five counts of theft by a jury. He was also banned from acting as a company director for seven years and told to pay a victim surcharge.
Sentencing, the judge said: "You are of previous good character. This is not merely an absence of previous convictions, but positive good character.
"Your businesses have created employment for others, you have done charity work and you are a solid and caring family man. You have reached the age of 62 with that reputation before the jury took it away."
Matthews-Williams could now be ordered to repay his ill-gotten gains under the Proceeds of Crime Act. He will be brought back before the same court next year.
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