Mum’s three-word message to boss after stealing £100,000 to fund ‘Instagram lifestyle’ with white SUV & fancy nights out
A MUM stole £100,000 from her boss to fund an “Instagram lifestyle”.
Laura Howarth, 41, spent thousands of pounds on a white SUV, hair extensions and VIP concert tickets, at the expense of the business.
The former finance assistant from Blackpool wanted the glamourous lifestyle of other women she saw online – including her boss’s wife.
But only earning around £900 and owing money in pay day loans, the mum-of-two ‘stole every week‘ and only stopped when she went on holiday and maternity leave, Preston Crown Court heard.
Howarth was employed by the company in 2013 and was entrusted to take care of petty cash and expense accounts – but Stuart Neale, prosecuting, said she started stealing “almost immediately”.
He said Howarth withdrew £50 in cash from a company credit card in August that year despite it being forbidden.
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She then added the money to a legitimate expense claim to make the books appear to balance, reports LancsLive.
And when Howarth realised she could get away with it, she was withdrawing an average of £3,000 a month.
She even applied for extensions on the credit card limits which allowed her to steal up to £6,000 a month.
But in August 2018, financial controller Chris Russell was reviewing the company credit cards and discovered one – used by Howarth – had been used to withdraw cash – an investigation was launched.
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Howarth was suspended from her job and on the same night sent a text to her employer saying “sorry for everything”.
Howarth, of Devona Avenue, Blackpool, was jailed for ten months by Judge Richard Gioserano who said: “You stole a great deal of money to provide a lifestyle you couldn’t afford – a glimpse of which can be seen on your Instagram account.”
Russ Priestley, the owner of British Independent Utilities, said: “I have worked over 100 hours a week, sacrificing social time and time with my family to build this business up.
“These events have made me question my choices and fundamentally make me look at people differently.”
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During the investigation, Russ said Howarth had drove a wedge between members of his staff leaving them unsure who to believe as she maintained her innocence to them.
Sentencing, Judge Gioserano told the mum: “You attempted to conceal your thefts with false accounting, and you did so over a long period of time.
“You not only covered your tracks but you increased the card limit so that you could steal more.
“You tried to blame others in the sense that you said what you had withdrawn had been given to other employees – and that was a very limited pool.
“Most of all, you accept you stole this money not to alleviate genuine financial hardship, not to pay for private hospital treatment for a sick member of your family, but to fund a lifestyle you couldn’t otherwise afford.
“Honest, hardworking people, work hard to try and afford this, and if they can’t afford it in that way they simply accept that. They do not resort to theft in order to fund it.”