Cyclic Hotline
10th Oct 2001, 04:41
Airline executive stole £2m after losing his bonus
BY SIMON DE BRUXELLES (The Times - London)
AN AIRLINE executive who was annoyed at being denied a big performance bonus took revenge by setting up a bogus company and embezzling nearly £2 million from his employer.
During two years at Brymon Airways, Derek Saunders, 31, saved the company between £4 million and £6 million with his expertise as a financial controller. He was expecting to be given about 30 per cent of that sum but the money was never paid.
He had been in a relationship with a female colleague and when that ended he was told that he had no future with the company, a regional subsidiary of British Airways, Plymouth Crown Court was told.
He then set up a company to make false payments to himself. When police raided his home they found details of 36 payments totalling £1,796,000 and cheques in his briefcase worth a further £160,000. He had spent thousands of pounds on property, cars and jewellery.
Yesterday Saunders, of Ivybridge, Devon, was jailed for four years after admitting six charges of deception and asking for 32 others to be taken into account.
Sarah Leesing, for the prosecution, said that Saunders had worked hard and in 1999 had been put in charge of all of Brymon’s finances, on a salary of £30,000 a year.
The year-long deception began after his disappointment about the bonus and the end of his relationship with a junior colleague. Brymon Airways told him that he would “go no further” with the company. “He decided at this point to set up Airline Maintenance Services to recompense for the money he believed he was entitled to, which was 30 per cent of £6 million,” Miss Leesing said.
He created and registered false invoices for engineering works. He told a colleague to set up a monthly standing order to the company and authorised payment of the invoices, which went to his account.
Miss Leesing said that Saunders had then gone on a spree, buying a large Georgian house for £280,000 and spending £300,000 on restoring and decorating it. He had also spent £235,000 on land near Exeter, £300,000 on jewellery, £100,000 on cars and £250,000 on other extravagances.
The deceit was discovered when the engineering director at Brymon realised that a large part of his budget was being paid to a company that he had never heard of.
The company recovered some of its money, but Miss Leesing said that civil action was being taken to find £750,000 not yet accounted for.
Paul Rowsell, for Saunders, said that he had been extremely capable and trusted by the company, but he was also vulnerable and had a fragile personality. He said that Saunders had turned to drink to cope with the long hours and pressures of his job. After an emotional break-up with a colleague, Saunders’s boss had been “extremely unsympathetic” and had cut his performance bonus to just £100.
Judge William Taylor said that Saunders had acted out of revenge and greed at a time when he had been under great stress and drinking a large amount of alcohol. He added: “As a result you have now lost everything.”
BY SIMON DE BRUXELLES (The Times - London)
AN AIRLINE executive who was annoyed at being denied a big performance bonus took revenge by setting up a bogus company and embezzling nearly £2 million from his employer.
During two years at Brymon Airways, Derek Saunders, 31, saved the company between £4 million and £6 million with his expertise as a financial controller. He was expecting to be given about 30 per cent of that sum but the money was never paid.
He had been in a relationship with a female colleague and when that ended he was told that he had no future with the company, a regional subsidiary of British Airways, Plymouth Crown Court was told.
He then set up a company to make false payments to himself. When police raided his home they found details of 36 payments totalling £1,796,000 and cheques in his briefcase worth a further £160,000. He had spent thousands of pounds on property, cars and jewellery.
Yesterday Saunders, of Ivybridge, Devon, was jailed for four years after admitting six charges of deception and asking for 32 others to be taken into account.
Sarah Leesing, for the prosecution, said that Saunders had worked hard and in 1999 had been put in charge of all of Brymon’s finances, on a salary of £30,000 a year.
The year-long deception began after his disappointment about the bonus and the end of his relationship with a junior colleague. Brymon Airways told him that he would “go no further” with the company. “He decided at this point to set up Airline Maintenance Services to recompense for the money he believed he was entitled to, which was 30 per cent of £6 million,” Miss Leesing said.
He created and registered false invoices for engineering works. He told a colleague to set up a monthly standing order to the company and authorised payment of the invoices, which went to his account.
Miss Leesing said that Saunders had then gone on a spree, buying a large Georgian house for £280,000 and spending £300,000 on restoring and decorating it. He had also spent £235,000 on land near Exeter, £300,000 on jewellery, £100,000 on cars and £250,000 on other extravagances.
The deceit was discovered when the engineering director at Brymon realised that a large part of his budget was being paid to a company that he had never heard of.
The company recovered some of its money, but Miss Leesing said that civil action was being taken to find £750,000 not yet accounted for.
Paul Rowsell, for Saunders, said that he had been extremely capable and trusted by the company, but he was also vulnerable and had a fragile personality. He said that Saunders had turned to drink to cope with the long hours and pressures of his job. After an emotional break-up with a colleague, Saunders’s boss had been “extremely unsympathetic” and had cut his performance bonus to just £100.
Judge William Taylor said that Saunders had acted out of revenge and greed at a time when he had been under great stress and drinking a large amount of alcohol. He added: “As a result you have now lost everything.”