A GAMBLER who became involved in a "web of deceit" through a fraud of nearly £174,000 while working as a senior manager at Shoreline Housing Partnership has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
He sold large numbers of iPhones and iPads after placing bogus orders for them supposedly on behalf of Shoreline, a court heard. Steven Neul, 45, of Humberston Avenue, Humberston, admitted fraud between March 24 and July 15, and converting criminal property between March 24 and July 10. Jeremy Evans, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that the "gross breach of trust" happened while Neul was working as a business systems and services manager for Shoreline, responsible for IT and customer contact.
He was responsible for a £1.5m-a-year budget and could place orders for up to £10,000 without higher authority.
He had worked at Shoreline for five years and earned £51,000 a year.
The fraud involved dishonestly pretending to Jungle IT and Vodafone that he was ordering iPhones and iPads on behalf of his employer.
He sold 160 iPhones and 177 iPads, valued at £173,900, to obtain cash for himself.
The fraud came to light on July 7 when a letter from Jungle IT was sent to Shoreline about an unpaid £68,000. A letter from Vodafone requesting payment was also received.
Mr Evans said it was a "web of deceit" and Shoreline regarded it as a "flagrant breach of trust" because it was "abhorrent" to "lie to suppliers".
It cost £13,000 for an audit and more than £25,000 of the money lost in the fraud was "unrecoverable".
HOW GAMBLING TOOK ME TO THE BRINK OF SUICIDE
Ian Durant, mitigating, said Neul was well thought of in the local community, including in the snooker world and for charity, and he had, until the fraud, been a model employee as well as a model partner, father, friend and work colleague.
"He was gripped by gambling at a very early age, since being 15 years of age," said Mr Durant.
"That destructive addiction soon spiraled out of control. He has not at any point shirked from or shied away from what he has done.
"He accepts full responsibility for what he has done. He has been open and honest with those with whom he is close about his gambling.
"He knew he was going to get caught and, when the inevitable happened, it was a huge relief to him."
Judge David Tremberg told Neul: "This is a rather sad and tragic case. In all but one aspect of your life, this court accepts that you have shown yourself to be a man of outstanding positive good character – intelligent, hard-working, highly respected, willing to give of your time generously for the community and various charitable and voluntary activities, and you are a good family man.
"For decades you have been battling with an addiction to gambling."
Neul caused an immediate loss of more than £173,000 to his employers by placing 20 or 30 fraudulent transactions over a four-month period and later selling off items cheaply to "fritter away on gambling", said Judge Tremberg.
"This offending is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate for it," he added.
"This was always going to come back to bite you."
Shoreline Chief Executive Tony Bramley said after the hearing: "While Shoreline is pleased to see this unhappy episode brought to a conclusion, our abiding sense is one of sadness at the betrayal of trust by a long-serving senior manager who took advantage of the charity's good reputation for his own gain, whatever his motivation.
"Thankfully this is an isolated incident in our ten year history, but we have further tightened our controls since this happened and made clear to all employees that we will vigorously pursue, through both civil and criminal remedies, anyone found to be abusing our trust in such a manner."
Jeremy Evans, Crown Advocate with CPS Yorkshire and Humberside said: "Neul placed orders for 160 iPhones and 177 iPads, supposedly on behalf of his employer, Shoreline, worth almost £174,000, later selling them on for his own personal gain.
"This was a flagrant breach of trust and authority which resulted in a substantial loss for the housing charity and we have applied for a Proceeds of Crime order to recover the funds. The sentence handed down today sends out a clear message that this type of offending will be prosecuted with the utmost rigour."
