Fraudster is jailed for six months

Fraudster is jailed for six months

18 December 2013

AN accountant who stole £50,000 from clients to feed an online gambling addiction has been jailed for six months.

Lisa Carville, of Cumber Hill, Drumaness, was sentenced at Downpatrick Crown Court on Friday after admitting 19 fraud related charges.

The fraud was committed while the 34 year-old was working for Peter O’Hare Accountants in Ballynahinch between November 2009 and September 2012.

She was responsible for discharging various debts on behalf of clients but instead used their money for online bingo sites.

The court heard Carville had been a member of one gambling website since 2006, but that her activity had initially been fairly minor before increasing significantly. The court also heard she was so ashamed when her fraud was exposed that she attempted suicide.

Prosecuting lawyer Sam Magee explained that the chartered accountant was able to see the account balances various clients had with the HMRC and that she used any money which was surplus to either gamble or to “top up” money she had already used.

The fraud was exposed when the tax office contacted a client in September 2012 to query a cheque which Carville had made out to herself. He in turn contacted the offices of Peter O’Hare, which the court noted was entirely innocent in the scam.

The £50,000 loss has fallen on indemnity insurers.

Defence barrister Joel Lindsay said Carville first started gambling in June 2006, adding that while it started with small amounts “it increased and increased and increased”.

He said she had paid back around £5,000 of the money through loans from her family. He said she had also taken up a job at a shop in Belfast to start to pay back her debt and has sought help for her gambling.

Judge David Smyth QC noted Carville, who had been working for Peter O’Hare Accountants since she was 19, had been well thought of by her employers. Describing her as hard working, with a record of public service, he said she had overcome a great tragedy in her life — a reference to a house fire in which three siblings died.

But Judge Smyth said a suspended sentence was not in the public interest as he handed down 18 months, of which six must be served.

“You were trusted by your employers and although this breach of trust forms part of the particulars of the offence, your position as a a person with professional duties and responsibility for fiduciary matters has to be regarded as an aggravating factor,” he said.

“This is a sad case but it is unlikely that a professional person who abuses a fiduciary relationship with employer and client in any significant way can avoid actual imprisonment, even in the face of the strongest personal mitigation.”

Carville, who sat silently during the hearing, broke down into tears when she was sentenced. Family in the public gallery also became distressed as she was taken down to the cells beneath the courtroom.