Gambling addict who stole £1.7m blew money on luxury holidays and drugs
A gambling addict who stole £1.7 million from his company spent the money on luxury holidays, drugs and gifts for his partner.
Neil Harris, of Poole, Dorset, used his position at a high-end recruitment firm to divert company funds into his personal bank account over six years.
He made 123 unauthorised payments as his life 'spiralled out of control', attempting to recoup his huge losses from betting on sports.
Harris also became swept up in the 'high-end' lifestyle as a financial controller at Caspian One, where he was responsible for paying contracts to suppliers.
However, when the contracts expired he carried on making those payments from the company to himself and gambled the money away on his Betfair account.
Funding an addiction
He spent £100,000 of the money he stole from the Bournemouth-based company on luxury holidays and gifts for his partner. He also developed an addiction to drugs, and blew some of the cash on sustaining his habit.
His theft was eventually uncovered by a junior employee who was in charge of the accounts while he was on holiday.
She noticed a payment for £5,544 that she could not account for and delved further to discover the fraud perpetrated by Harris.
When he was confronted about it upon his return to work, he admitted to stealing money from the company but falsely claimed it was to pay off someone who was threatening his son.
But after providing his bank statements over the previous 12 months it was found that he had stolen £192,000 over that period and he was dismissed for gross misconduct in August 2018.
The investigation was subsequently expanded to cover his entire length of employment from 2012 to 2018 and the final figure stolen was £1,703,465.
The court heard that Harris was not interviewed by police about the matter until November 2024.
He was subsequently charged with fraud by abuse of position and admitted the offence at Poole magistrates' court in March.
The case was then committed to Bournemouth Crown Court for sentencing because of its seriousness.
'Shocked and betrayed'
The court heard that Harris, who is of previous good character, remains £50,000 in debt and has attended Gamblers Anonymous to tackle his addiction.
Recorder Stefan Ramel sentenced Harris to four years' imprisonment.
The judge said: 'The impact of your fraud has had a profound effect on your colleagues who felt shocked and betrayed.
'You abused your position of responsibility and it was a sophisticated fraud which required significant planning and carried out over a sustained number of years.'
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