A man from Nottinghamshire, England, has been sentenced to two years in prison and two further years on suspended sentence after stealing £240,000 from his former employers to fund his gambling habit.
Craig Williams, 48, confessed to fraud by abuse of position in 2018, and accepted his sentence last week in Nottingham Crown Court (pictured).
The stealing spree went undiscovered for two years. It eventually forced his former employers, a solar panel distribution company, into financial troubles. Five people lost their jobs.
“Since Williams did not have the strength to seek help for his spiraling addiction before it was too late, a successful business had to close and five staff lost their jobs,” said investigating officer Detective Constable Anna Haynes in a statement from Nottinghamshire Police.
“He did express remorse throughout the investigation, and I hope this case serves as a reminder to people of how gambling can get out of control and ruin lives.”
The Crime
Williams was a general manager at PGK Distribution UK, a firm specializing in selling solar panels and related products.
Between 2016 and 2018, Williams began privately selling items from the company’s stock, and replaced empty boxes in the warehouse to cover it up.
Williams pocketed £150,000 in this way, which was almost all spent on gambling. But he also denied the firm of clients, as he would personally deliver legit orders, take cash payments, and then mark the order as canceled on the company’s system.
After the missing stock was noticed in an inspection in early 2018, Williams confessed to company leadership, later turning himself in to police custody. He told officers he thought he’d sold about £70,000 worth of stock – but it turned out to be a lot higher.
The finanical drain eventually led to the closure of the firm, and the loss of five jobs.
“Such was the regularity of his offending, Williams was unable to say how many times he had fraudulently sold his employer’s stock – only that he spent most of the proceeds on online gambling websites,” Haynes said.
“He then tried to cover his tracks by providing inaccurate stock takes and deliberately mismanaging the company’s records. Ultimately, these concerted efforts failed, and he found himself before the courts.”
The Sentence
As well as two years in prison, Williams must be on good behavior for two further years of a suspended sentence. During which, he must not gamble, and will perform 200 hours of unpaid community work.
Employees stealing from their jobs to fund gambling habits is not exactly uncommon in legal gambling markets across the world.
In one recent example, that went far beyond Williams’ criminal efforts. An ex-employee of Florida’s Jacksonville Jaguars stole $22 million from the NFL team, mostly to fund his fantasy sports betting addiction at DraftKings.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.