A MAN has been sentenced to four years in prison after defrauding the company he had been working for of over £130,000.

Forty seven year old Ian Coley from Wigmore Close in Abbey Mead, Gloucester, who was self employed, was hired as the Business and Finance Manager at Energist UK in 2009. After leaving the company in September 2010 it became apparent that there had been some irregular financial transactions during his time there. He then went onto work at The Green Company and the irregular financial transactions continued.

Following a focused audit of both company accounts it was discovered that funds totalling over £130,000 had been transferred to several accounts including two owned by Mr Coley as well as Birmingham Football Club of whom he was a supporter. It was later discovered that money had been paid to the football club for hospitality tickets.

Mr Coley pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court on 23rd March 2012. The judge described his actions as a ‘Gross betrayal and breach of trust’.

PC Christina Macdonald who investigated the case said: ‘As per the judge’s comments, Mr Coley grossly betrayed his employers and did not only breach their trust but also caused them strain financially, using their money to maintain a lifestyle he could not afford.

‘Whilst he has now been sentenced for his crime the financial loss caused to the companies still exists. We will now work hard with colleagues in the Crown Prosecution Service to help recover the funds fraudulently gained.

‘In these cases people often find themselves on a slippery slope and take more and more money each time. The behaviour of Mr Coley was never a solution and only made his situation worse when it eventually caught up with him, which it inevitably always does.’