Accountant who was 'like a daughter' to her generous boss jailed after pocketing over £2.4million from her company to fund gambling addiction and cruise obsession
Jemma Lewis, who was earning £200k, has been jailed after spending the stolen fortune on gambling, cryptocurrency and luxury holidays.
Newport Crown Court heard how Ms Lewis' theft caused one woman to miss out on her pension, a director to leave and another to lose out on his salary.
She had worked for the company for over 10 years, starting as a receptionist and eventually qualifying as an accountant.
In a victim statment, her boss, James Davies, said Ms Lewis felt like familyand that her crimes has 'affected the lives of countless people'.
Ms Lewis committed fraud against five different companies which were inside the same family of companies owned by James Davies.
These included Daisy Vale Limited, Charnwood Accounts, Edward Davies Construction and Fastnet Properties Ltd.
The financial problems began to arise when the company moved to an online banking system, which showed a substantial and unexplained downturn in profits.
In 2023, when suspicions were raised over an increase in third party payments, Ms Lewis officially resigned and a new accountant took over.
When she contacted him about her severance payment he noticed a link between her account details and a number of other payments on the account.
Alex Orndale, prosecuting said: 'Instead of paying third party people she had been paying herself and disguising them as proper payments.'
Between 2018 and 2023 the total payments to her account exceeded £3.6m. Once her salary and other legitimate payments were removed the total was still over £2.4m.
Mr Orndal explained that £1.4m of this was sent to known gambling companies but the figure is likely to be higher as it's difficult to identify all gambling companies.
She also spent £67,000 on crypto companies and £9,000 on FairFX, a bank where you can pay with different currencies.
There was also £3,600 spent on lastminute.com, £1,000 on P&O cruises and £1,000 on Jet2Holidays
Despite already fraudulently stealing millions from the businesses, Lewis also asked her Mr Davies to lend her £163,000 to help her buy a house but the money was eventually repaid by her mother and brother.
Defendant Neil Corre said her gambling addiction, which she has been free of for a year, is to blame.
He said: 'She has lost her job, her home and she may lose her liberty, but her moral compass has been restored.'
Former director Mark Cotter said in a victim impact statement that the stress on him had led to his GP making him take four to six weeks off work.
He added: 'I felt forced to leave the company that I had spent a lot of my life trying to build.
'I'm in disbelief that all of this happened because of Jemma Lewis.'
Ms Lewis pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud by abuse of position.
Judge Daniel Williams sentenced Lewis to five years in prison, with each charge to run concurrently.
He said during sentencing: 'You have been a gambler for years, since you were 18 and long before you were employed by James Davies. Your upbringing was privileged but also blighted by trauma and sadness.'
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