12-05-2025
Accountant's fraud contributed to redundancy of 125 colleagues
An accountant who defrauded a business out of more than £600,000 contributed to more than 125 of her colleagues losing their jobs, a court has heard.
Jolene Groves, 47, may have stolen as much as £1.6 million from a medical devices manufacturer over six years, a judge was told.
Such was the scale of her fraud that the company suffered financial difficulty, leading to the closure of one of its sites and mass redundancies.
She has now been jailed for four years, with the judge saying her behaviour had a 'considerable impact' on her employer.
Winchester Crown Court heard that Groves started working at the manufacturer Nolato Jaycare in 2007.
Ten years later, she exploited a 'flaw' in the company's payments system to begin directing funds away from suppliers to her own bank accounts, prosecutors said.
She 'covered her tracks' until 2023, when she was caught out by a supplier raising an issue about a payment.
A company investigation revealed 84 records of Groves re-routing payments to her own accounts between July 2017 and September 2023, the court heard.
The total sum defrauded was £603,272.62 – though the company believes the true amount could be as high as £1,637,473.90.
'Difficult to prove' extent of loss
Matthew Lawson, prosecuting, told the court that Groves, who lives in Southampton, was employed as an accountant during her 16 years at the company.
Mr Lawson said: 'The defendant was initially employed at the Portsmouth branch from 2017 onwards, however that branch closed in 2020 with the loss of 125 jobs.
'The defendant continued to work for Nolato in a remote capacity, largely working from home.'
The prosecutor added that while a finance manager was investigating the financial problem, Groves continued to defraud the company.
He said it was 'difficult to prove' the true extent of the money lost and that the company directors were stressed by the threat of prison when finances did not add up.
At court, Groves pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position.
Chris Gaiger, defending, said that her client had multiple sclerosis and suffered from an alcohol addiction that the money funded.
He added that there was no evidence she had spent the money on lavish expenses or holidays.
Sentencing Groves, Recorder Jodie Mittell said: 'At the very least, your behaviours must have contributed to the financial difficulties that the company had.
'I am told that the company had to close a branch in Portsmouth which resulted in redundancies of 125. I do not find you directly caused that branch to close.
'There must have been some contribution by your financial behaviours.'
'A loss for the city'
Speaking in 2020, Simon Bosher, a Portsmouth councillor, said that the site's closure was a 'significant loss' for the city.
'This is extremely disappointing for the local economy – it's going to have a big impact on Drayton and Farlington and the wider Portsmouth community,' he said.
'There's never a good time to lose a job but to lose it either just before Christmas or just after is always going to be tough for people.'
