A 'devious' fraudster who swindled more than £55,000 the company she worked will have to pay back £63,000. Yvette Newton, who worked as a finance manager at TMJ Contractors, previously admitted fraud by abuse of position when she transferred the money from the company accounts into her own bank account.
She disguised the mange transactions as going to payees and contractors, Minshull Street Crown Court. In May last year, Newton, 54, of Oldham in Greater Manchester, was jailed for 16 months, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Today (March 17), following a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, she was ordered to pay back £63,413.53 to TMJ Contractors. The court previously heard that between September 8, 2015, and 16 August, 2020, Newton spent a total of £55,309.23 from the company.
During her time working for the contracting firm, where she was earning £33,000 a year, she transferred £17,485.70 to her own Santander bank account, as well as a further £11,539.49 to a Nationwide account, also in her name.
She also moved £6,213.97 to her unsuspecting daughter's account, £611 into her husband's account and then £1,948.98 on unauthorised wage additions or expenses.
As well as this, money was funnelled to be spent on various unauthorised expenses, including a skip hire, a DVLA payment for her husband's car, over £5,000 in non-business purchases at B&Q, which included buying a lawn mower and dehumidifier and over £5,000 in unexplained cash withdrawals.
Prosecuting, Thomas Worsfold told the court that her actions were first flagged by her employers on August 21, 2020, when managing director Daniel and his operations director wife noticed there were a number of "irregular payments made from the company's bank account to unexpected recipients, such as Nissan, North Face and Lansdowne Motors."
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He said: "Investigations revealed the defendant had adopted a practice of allowing payments on the company's account with repayment supposedly through wages.
“On occasion, legitimate payments would be made to payees. This method was designed to conceal her fraudulent practise."
The court also heard how Newton used a company fuel card to pay for her and her husband's fuel and to make payments of a further £4,945.54 through a trade account called Trade UK Web Portal.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, company operations director Natalie Taylor said it was ‘deeply upsetting and horrifying’ to learn of the ‘complexities of the deceit.’ She added: “I’ll never forget how sick I felt, seeing transaction after transaction and the total money she took grow by thousands and thousands.”
Judge John Edwards sentenced Newton to 16 months behind bars, telling her: "You and your family were shown friendship and generosity from the Taylors, but it was reciprocated in the worst possible way. Your actions were devious, highly manipulative and sophisticated."
In today’s hearing, also heard at Minshull Street Crown Court, Newton sat in the public gallery as Judge Angela Nield said: “I am satisfied by virtue of the offence with which you were sentenced for fraud by abuse of position that the requirements of the Proceeds of Crime Act apply to this case.
“These offences are lifestyle offences. The benefit figure is £63,413.53 and the available amount is the same. That is reflected in your share of the matrimonial home.
“I make a confiscation order to the sum of £63,413.53, to be paid as compensation to the complainant, to be paid in three months.”
The judge added that if the sum is not paid within the three months, she will be liable to serve 18 months' imprisonment.
