Accountant jailed after stealing £188k from employer

An accountant has been jailed after he pleaded guilty for stealing over £180,000 from his employer. 

David Gowans, aged 53, of Gadebridge Point, Hemel Hempstead, stole the money from a London-based company where he worked as an accountant, over a period of four years, in order to fund a “lavish lifestyle and luxury holidays’.

Gowans appeared at St Albans Crown Court on Tuesday 10 November where he pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position. He was sentenced to four years in prison.

Detective Rob Burns, of Hertfordshire Constabulary’s serious fraud and cyber unit, said that Gowans used his “trusted position” within the company to steal from his employer, using “bogus invoices” to hide the fact that he was re-directing company funds into his own bank accounts.

Between 2013 and 2017 he transferred numerous payments of a few thousand pounds disguised as payments to suppliers.

Burns added: “After months of meticulous investigation we were able to gather enough evidence to build a case against Gowans. Our investigators have done a great job and are now attempting to recover whatever funds have not been spent through the Proceeds of Crime Act, by seizing assets belonging to the offender.

“The sentence handed out reflects the scale of the fraud and the impact his actions had on the company and its employees.”