Hartlepool landscape garden business was nearly sunk by worker’s £50,000 fraud
The proprietor of a Hartlepool landscape gardening company has revealed how a loyal employee nearly damaged the business by committing a near-£50,000 scam.
Andrew Dawson, of Dawson Landscapes on Whitby Street South, had to postpone his early retirement plans to repair the financial damage caused by former office manager Sarah D’Arcy.
She exploited her position by transferring thousands of pounds from the company’s accounts into her own bank accounts over a six-month period in 2021.
He has spoken about the business’s loss as a result of D’Arcy’s activities following her fraud conviction at Teesside Crown Court last month.
Andrew Dawson’s Hartlepool business was almost
Mr Dawson stated: “It nearly brought the company down. At the time, I employed 20 people. “If it wasn’t for the understanding of mu suppliers giving us a bit of leeway to pay bills, we probably wouldn’t have survived.”
Mr Dawson first recognised something was wrong when he observed discrepancies in VAT returns.
He hired an accountant for £5,000 to determine the entire scope of D’Arcy’s acts.
Teesside Crown
In December, she pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud.
Both violations occurred between May 31 and December 7, 2021, while D’Arcy was employed as office manager at the company’s Marina location.
Count one was for more than £28,000, which she was “expected to safeguard” but transferred to her own bank accounts.
The second included D’Arcy of Blackdown Close, Peterlee, transferring nearly £20,500 from Virgin Money to herself.
Mr Dawson had to use his own money to protect the business he founded 26 years ago, saying: “If it hadn’t been for my good clients and staff working harder, it might have been a different outcome, but I wasn’t going to let someone defeat me.”
Judge Nathan Adams sentenced D’Arcy to 22 months in prison before postponing it for 18 months.
It implies she won’t have to serve it if she doesn’t commit any new crimes in the next year and a half.
She was also placed on probation for up to 20 rehabilitation activity days.
A proceeds of crime hearing to try to retrieve the money she took has been scheduled for August.
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