‘Trusted Man’ Stole £6.7m from Employer to Gamble Online

“Not a Sackable Offence” Cried the Accused!

James Hall, 49, has been sentenced to serve six years in jail for pilfering £6.7m from his employer in a 3-year period. Hall was regarded as a “great asset to the company” in which he worked for with the owner of Merseyside-based shopfitting business Vale UK stating he “trusted him implicitly.” Mr Henerty employed Hall in 1996 and the pair later became close friends. There were plans for Hall to be made a director in the company, that’s how valued he was as a member of the team but admitting to two counts of fraud put a stop to that.

Despite already earning £80K per annum, Hall approached his boss (and pal) in 2012 to as for a loan of £250K to purchase a better house closer to his daughter’s school. The request was approved but instead of transferring the requested sum, Hall decided to help himself from the company reserves to the tune of £6.7million!

Take, Take, Take

From 2012 to 2015, varying cash amounts were being taken by Hall but it only came to light when the accounts were audited in 2015. When confronted, Hall admitted to taking the money to gamble – not on bingo websites, not on websites with casino games either, but on the FTSE 100. When asked why he said it was to “secure the financial security of his wife and children” before admitting there was “very little left” of the millions he splurged.

When Mr Henerty realised what had happened, he gave Hall his P45 but when the case went to court defence barrister Andrew Nuttall said Hall “thought it was ridiculous” he got fired. The “trusted man” was described as a family man to the court with two daughters and his defence was he was going through some serious gambling problems.

Judge Gilbert took no pity on the man who clearly thinks there was nothing wrong with stealing more than £6million from an employer and a close friend, and sentenced Hall to 6 years in prison. Following his sentencing, Detective Constable Claire Taylor of Merseyside Police said: “This fraud placed a family-run business under significant financial pressure, causing distress and worry to all employees and their loved ones. That such an impact would be caused was clearly lost on Hall, and he will now be left to consider the full consequences of his actions while he serves his jail time.”

In a victim impact statement, Henerty said he felt “anxious and physically sick” when he thinks about how much money was stolen and how he now has trust issues with those closest to him. 

Source: “Family Man on £80K a Year Swindled Company He Worked for Out of £6.7m… and Then Splurged it Gambling on the Stock Market”. Manchester Evening News. March 24, 2022.