£52,000 Shropshire fraud case man to pay back just £10 - or face jail
A man who was given £52,000 in stolen money by his mother has been told to repay just £10, or spend a week in prison.
Craig Smith’s mother, Ann Jones, of Hermitage Way, Llanymynech, ripped off Jim Dorricott Construction Ltd, based at Minsterley near Shrewsbury, between 2013 and 2016.
Jones dishonestly took more than £122,000 from the family firm in her position as an accounts manager and transferred more than £52,000 of that to Smith.
She has since claimed that she was coerced into it by her son, who spent the money on drugs, alcohol and gambling. Both were sent to jail in May 2018.
Jones, 60, is still on licence for her sentence of two years and eight months for fraud, while Smith, 37, has completed his 10-month jail sentence for acquiring criminal property.
Smith, of Balfour Close, Northampton, was back in court yesterday for a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing, where a judge decreed how much he could pay back.
He was calculated to have benefited by £52,411 and 33p, prosecutor Oliver King told Shrewsbury Crown Court.
But because he only has £10 that can be recovered, the court ordered that he must pay that by February 8 or face a default jail sentence.
Benefit
Judge Anthony Lowe told him: "Make sure you pay that £10 or you will spend a week in prison.
"That does not extinguish the benefit figure; in the event you come into money in the future the prosecution can come back."
Meanwhile, Jones still faces her own POCA hearings for that fraud as well as another, earlier case. Those hearings are due to go ahead on May 31.
She stole £47,000 from CV Rollers of Oswestry over a period of eight years and in relation to that has pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud.
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Jones took the money between 2004 and 2012 by making payments and writing cheques to herself, as well as falsifying wages and pension contributions.
The firm only found out about the fraud after coverage in local media of the Jim Dorricott Construction case.
Meanwhile, Jones still faces her own POCA hearings for that fraud as well as another, earlier case. The case will be heard on March 27 and the progress of the POCA proceedings will be discussed.
She stole at least £47,000 from CV Rollers of Oswestry over a period of eight years and has pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud.
Jones was due to be sentenced for the fraud yesterday but Judge Lowe said it would be better for Judge Peter Barrie, who sentenced her in May 2018, to pass the sentence instead. She is now due to be sentenced on February 14.
