Fraudster jailed for nearly six years after stealing nearly £600k

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 had been employed through a recruitment agency and in his application had failed to declare his previous conviction and also claimed to have MAAT accountancy qualifications.

“The defendant began moving money away from the company account into his own personal 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.

“The defendant was living an extravagant lifestyle which was not commensurate with his salary,” the prosecutor said.

“He went to buy expensive cars and go on several holidays a year.”

The court heard that in 2012 the company directors were informed anonymously that Maxted had been to prison for fraud, and when confronted he admitted he had been to jail but 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,” he said.

“Many of them had been with the company for the majority of their working lives and there were three father-and-son combinations.

“There were grown men crying in the office and at that stage I had no explanation for them.”

He added: “Maxted’s callousness was a betrayal of the trust placed in him. He lied about his qualifications and his criminal record.

“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 falsely 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 is going to receive a long period of imprisonment that in of itself cannot provide a sense of closure or completion that everybody in court is aware of,” he said.

“At some point it will come to an end, and he will be released from imprisonment.

“What I am asking is that when the sentence is passed that consideration is given to the impact this sentence will have on his young children, who are regrettably old enough to have formed a close bond with their father but not old enough to understand what is about to happen.”

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”.

“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 said.

“You are a man who would lie without hesitation or restriction when it suited you.

“As with so much of your life it was all premised on lies. It also betrays an absence of any true remorse for your extensive dishonesty.

“These numerous lies set the context for the offence before the court.

“Through persistent greed you have selfishly betrayed the trust of people you worked with at an established and reputable company.

“This fraud meant you were able to live an extravagant lifestyle at the company’s expense.”