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Wales Online
06-08-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
Crooked finance manager who stole £140,000 from employers to pay back £72,000
Crooked finance manager who stole £140,000 from employers to pay back £72,000 Victoria King, 56, paid herself an extra £7,500 a month by fiddling the books Victoria King, as known as Vikki Phillips, pictured in 2011 A crooked finance manager who stole £140,000 from her employers years after being jailed for leaving another employer out of pocket has been ordered to pay back £72,000. She was already on a £45,000-a-year salary but paid herself an extra £7,500 a month by fiddling the books and creating payments to what looked to be a genuine supplier but was in fact herself. Victoria King, 56, who is also known as Vikki Phillips, was jailed in 2014 for stealing £130,000 from a charity she was working for and went on to forge "glowing" references from her victims which she used to apply for another job in finance. In 2021 King joined the Rhigos office of Eftech Ltd, a company which supplies adhesives and sealants to the automotive industry, as finance manager. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter. She said in that £45,000-a-year role the defendant was responsible for making payments to the firm's suppliers and had access to the company's Lloyds bank account. In April 2023 the defendant quit her job and the Belgium-based company decided not to replace her but to subsume the Welsh office's finance operations into the Belgian operations. As part of the transition process a financial review was carried out which involved checking invoices and payments at the Rhigos office. The audit highlighted discrepancies in the numbers and the boss of the Rhigos branch was asked to carry out an investigation. The internal probe ultimately uncovered 21 payments made between October 2021 and July 2023 to an account which had a name almost identical to that of a genuine supplier. In total £140,197 had been paid into the account, which was controlled by King, usually in monthly amounts of £7,500. The police were alerted and the defendant was interviewed but answered "no comment" to all questions asked. In a statement from the current boss of the Rhigos office he described King's behaviour as "despicable". He said the offending had led to a "breakdown of trust" which was a shame as the firm had always been a close-knit company where often generations of the same family had chosen to work. He said King had been happy to talk to people about her horses and the holidays she was taking and that the offending was done simply out of greed. King, of Highdale Crescent, Llantrisant, Pontyclun, had previously pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position when she appeared in the dock for sentencing. The court heard she has two previous convictions for two offences. She was sentenced to 32 months in prison at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court in May. Article continues below A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at the same court on Wednesday heard King benefited to the tune of £145,197 as a result of her offending but only has assets worth £72,657. Judge Vanessa Francis ordered the defendant to pay that sum within three months or serve an additional two years imprisonment in default.
Wales Online
01-05-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
She took £100,000 from her employer. Then she got a new job and did it again
She took £100,000 from her employer. Then she got a new job and did it again Under the name Vikki Phillips the defendant Victoria King was jailed in 2014 for stealing £130,000 from the charity she was working for Victoria King - as known as Vikki Phillips - pictured in 2011 A crooked finance manager stole £140,000 from her employers years after being jailed for leaving another employer out of pocket. Victoria King was already on a £45,000-a-year salary but paid herself an extra £7,500 a month by fiddling the books and creating payments to what looked to be a genuine supplier but was in fact herself. The 56-year-old defendant has never revealed what she did with the money. Merthyr Crown Court heard that King - who is also known as Vikki Phillips - was jailed in 2014 for stealing £130,000 from a charity she was working for and went on to forge "glowing" references from her victims which she used to apply for another job in finance. The court heard she is currently working in finance for another company, though it is was not clear whether her current employer knew she was in the dock. Leah Pollard, prosecuting, said in 2021 King joined the Rhigos office of Eftech Ltd, a company which supplies adhesives and sealants to the automotive industry, as finance manager in July 2021. She said in that £45,000-a-year role the defendant was responsible for making payments to the firm's suppliers and had access to the company's Lloyds bank account. Read about the trusted manager of a busy veterinary surgery who "brazenly and cynically" stole £50,000 in cash from the firm. The court heard that in April 2023 the defendant quit her job and the Belgian-based company decided not to replace her but to subsume the Welsh office's finance operations into the Belgian operations. As part of the transition process a financial review was carried out which involved checking invoices and payments at the Rhigos office. The audit highlighted discrepancies in the numbers and the boss of the Rhigos branch was asked to carry out an investigation. The prosecutor said the internal probe ultimately uncovered 21 payments made between October 2021 and July 2023 to an account which had a name almost identical to that of a genuine supplier. In total some £140,197 had been paid into the account - an account controlled by King - usually in monthly amounts of £7,500. The police were alerted and the defendant was interviewed but answered "no comment" to all questions asked. Read about an employee at a building supplies firm stole more than £26,000 from the company to fund his out-of-control cocaine habit. Article continues below In a statement from the current boss of the Rhigos office he described King's behaviour as "despicable." He said the offending had led to a "breakdown of trust" which was a shame as the firm had always been a close-knit company where often generations of the same family had chosen to work. He said King had been happy to talk to people about her horses and the holidays she was taking and that the offending was done simply out of greed. Don't miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here . Victoria Mary King, of Highdale Crescent, Llanrisant, had previously pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position when she appeared in the dock for sentencing. The court hears she has two previous convictions for two offences. In 2014 she was jailed for stealing £130,000 from a Cardiff-based women's charity while working as the not-for-profit organisation's finance manager. That offending involved creating fake invoices from suppliers and paying the money into her own account as well as forging the signature of the charity's director to make cash payments to herself. The charity was forced to close as a result of her dishonesty. King went on to create fake "glowing" references from the charity she had just stolen from when seeking work in finance roles via a recruitment agency. She also failed to declare her previous conviction. Jailing the defendant on that occasion for two years and eight months, a judge told King: "I am dealing with a thoroughly dishonest woman". Emily Jermin, for King, said on reading the pre-sentence report there did not seem to be an obvious reason for the offending but said having spoken to the defendant before the hearing: "She told me about what might best be classified as an addiction or compulsion." She said her client did not seek to make excuses for her actions but added: "It seems, for whatever reason, she cannot help doing it." The barrister said King has a Masters degree in finance, has caring responsibilities and was taking "small, small steps" to repay her debut to society by working with a charity. Judge Jeremy Jenkins said the defendant had "systematically stolen" from her employer "from the very beginning to the very end" of her period of employment and had in effect been paying herself some £7,500 a month on top of her already generous salary. Article continues below He described her offending as a "gross breach of trust conducted over a significant period of time." He noted that King had never indicated to any degree what happened to the money she took. With a one-third discount for her guilty plea King was sentenced to 32 months in prison. She will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The court heard that an investigation into the defendant's finances will now be carried out under Proceeds of Crime Act powers. South Wales Police does not have a custody picture of the defendant.
