A MANAGING director (MD) for a Whitchurch company who siphoned off almost £250,000 of his employer’s funds into three business accounts of a friend was brought down by a whistleblower.

Despite being caught out after the six-year scam, Adrian Platt denied the “brazen fraud” and claimed that his pal had been paid to provide valuable stress counselling – an invention a jury took just 20 minutes to reject.

Judge David Potter accepted that Platt had been under pressure at his job at Befesa Salt Slags Ltd (BSS) in Fenns Bank, Whitchurch.

But he told the defendant that instead of seeking help through his employers, he instead took to fraud to be 'financially compensated for the way in which you perceived you were treated'.

“I am satisfied you, as the creator of the fraud, stood to gain most by it,” added Judge Potter.

He said he had abused his position as MD to allow the fraud to be undetected and it would have continued but for a whistleblower in the firm.

Platt, who was on an annual wage of over £100,000, had raised false purchase orders for BSS and his friend Bernard Giam in turn produced invoices claiming his companies had supplied environmental consultancy services.

Platt authorised payments which over six years accounted for more than 90 per cent of the total income of Giam’s three firms, most of which the co-defendant withdrew in cash.

Jailing the two men, Judge Potter said: “The court is satisfied that a significant proportion of that cash was handed back to you for deposit into your various personal accounts.

“You supplanted your considerable salary, bonus, car allowance, with cash stolen from your employer.

"And you Giam incorporated two companies for the principal purpose of receiving payments for services which you simply didn’t supply.

“It was a brazen fraud. It was cleverly disguised by the false accounting practises.

"And when challenged, Platt came up with an account which was literally incredible and one which the jury had no hesitation in rejecting utterly.

“You sought to develop an elaborate story of a culture at BSS in which you were under such incredible stress that you needed external help.

"You claimed that you couldn’t turn to your employers for help out of embarrassment at needing help for stress and fear that a stressed MD would be soon shifted out of the way causing you to be made redundant."

He jailed Platt, of Crossthwaite Gardens, Keswick, Cumbria for four years and Giam, of Navigation Wharf, Liverpool city centre, for 40 months.

They had both been convicted of three offences of fraud after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

Arthur Gibson, prosecuting, told the jury that Befesa Salt Slags Ltd was involved in the processing and recovery of aluminium from a waste product in the aluminium industry and was part of the Spanish-based umbrella company Befesa.

He left the company in May 2017 – his successor tasked with a review to reduce costs discovered payments totalling £282,645 to three linked companies 'for precisely nothing'.

The police were called in and it was found the one director and shareholder of the three companies was Giam, who had provided no services to Platt or BSS.

The Whitchurch plant was closed down in 2020 leading to redundancies and Judge Potter said there was no doubt Platt’s fraudulent activities as MD impacted on the profitability of the plant.

Paul Williams, defending, said that Platt had previously led a blameless life and had been regarded as 'honest and decent' and his current boss would continue to employ him if he was not jailed.

He said: “I suggest the course of conduct was a total aberration in his character and personality. He has a serious medical condition requiring long term treatment.”