At a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court today (Friday 24 June) a 67-year-old woman was sentenced to 40 months in prison having previously pleaded guilty to False Accounting comprising the theft of over £2.8 million between 2005-2010.
Shelagh Smith of Tregarne, Ffordd Caergybi, Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Anglesey, worked for Glen Dimplex Home Appliances (GDHA), Stoney Lane, Whiston, as the purchase ledger supervisor and had control of paying company invoices. Between 2005 and 2010 she used her position and access to company accounts to steal £2.8m.
Her husband Roy Smith, 69, of the same address, was jailed for 27 months, and their daughter Karen Lewis, 47, also of the same address, was jailed for 21 months for using criminal property following guilty pleas, after it was shown that they had knowingly benefitted from the thefts in the purchase of properties in both St Helens and Anglesey as well as other large purchases such as vehicles.
Running alongside the criminal investigation was a civil action brought by GDHA in the High Court in London. Following those proceedings all three parties were stripped of the properties they had purchased and the money returned to those it was stolen from.
Detective Inspector Simon Vaughan of Merseyside Police’s Major Crime Unit said: “Shelagh Smith had worked for the company for more than 30 years, holding a position of trust and having responsibility for large sums of money.
“She was highly regarded by her peers and supervisors and selfishly abused this trust and her position in order to enrich herself and her family at the company’s expense. Today Shelagh Smith and those who helped her to spend the stolen money have now been punished by the courts.”
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