Fraudster who pretended to be accountant stole £600,000 to fund ‘extravagant lifestyle’
Maxted pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud by abuse of position valued at £596,497.29 he was employed through a recruitment agency and failed to declare his previous fraud conviction
A serial fraudster who lied to get a job as an accountant at a building company has been jailed for nearly six years after stealing nearly £600,000.
Andrew Maxted, 57, used the money to buy expensive cars and go on luxury holidays during the six-year fraud. Gloucester Crown Court heard that Maxted’s crimes were only uncovered at Building Solutions after forensic accountants were called in when the firm went into voluntary liquidation in 2017.
Maxted had previously served a three-year prison sentence in 1996 for a “near identical” offence of conspiracy to defraud, the court heard. Rachael Skitt, prosecuting, told the court the offences at Building Solutions were committed between October 2011 and October 2017 and began shortly after Maxted was appointed as accounts manager for the Cheltenham-based firm.
He was employed through a recruitment agency and failed to declare his previous conviction, also claiming to have MAAT accountancy qualifications. “The defendant began moving money away from the company account into his account and some of which was shared with his ex-partner,” Miss Skitt said. Among the spending was £15,000 for the annual rent of a property, as well as the purchase of cars and holidays. After an anonymous tip-off when company directors were informed of Maxted previous convictions for fraud, he was confronted but lied and said it was for a motoring offence.
In a statement read to the court, director David Brennan said the family-run business had been started by his father in 1968 and employed 30 people when it collapsed.“The worst thing I had to do in my working life was call 30 loyal, honest employees into the office to tell them that the company was collapsing after 49 years and they were all out of work….There were grown men crying in the office and at that stage I had no explanation for them.”
He added: “We trusted the financial wellbeing of our family company into the hands of an unqualified and convicted fraudster. He stole large amounts of money from us to support his lavish lifestyle. The final insult after bringing the company to its knees in 2017 was to offer to put money into the company and return as managing director. The actions of this criminal have haunted my wife and I every day for the past six and a half years.”
After the firm collapsed a civil case was launched against Maxted and he alleged the company directors were complicit in his crimes – accusing them of money laundering, corruption, tax evasion and asset stripping. Maxted also lied to the court by claiming he had repaid money to the firm by “disguising” payments within the accounts.
At a previous hearing, Maxted, of Standish Gate, near Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud by abuse of position valued at £596,497.29. Matthew Harbinson, defending, said Maxted had two young children who would be deprived of seeing their father for several years. He asked the court to consider the impact of Maxted’s sentence on his children.
Jailing Maxted for five years and eight months, Judge Ian Lawrie KC, the Recorder of Gloucester, said the fraudster was a “thoroughly dishonest and deeply manipulative individual. The judge told Maxted: “You have demonstrated through a variety of actions not only a callous disregard for others who you knew would be affected by your selfish and deceitful actions, but also your cowardice in refusing to confront those deceitful actions and the impact on others when your behaviour became so known in 2017.”
The judge also said that Maxted was a man who would lie without hesitation and when it suited him and questioned whether there was any true remorse for his dishonesty.
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