Private healthcare firm's finance chief stole £1.2m to fund holidays, school fees and his wife's BMW

• James Gibbon, 62, from York paid for private schools for his children
• He also a BMW for his wife, bespoke holidays, property investment and £667,000 spending on credit cards
• A court heard he started working for the firm just six months after being released from a four-year sentence
• Jailed for a similar £300,000 fraud at a road construction company
• Gibbon pleaded guilty to stealing £1.2m from Benenden Healthcare Society
  

By Tara Brady

Published: 15:51 EDT, 14 April 2014 | Updated: 06:20 EDT, 15 April 2014

James Gibbon, 62, paid for private schools for his children and a BMW for his wife

The former head of finance at Benenden Healthcare has been jailed for six years for stealing more than £1.2m to fund a lavish lifestyle of holidays and extravagant spending.

James Gibbon, 62, paid for private schools for his children, a BMW for his wife, bespoke holidays, property investment and £667,000 spending on credit cards.

A court heard he started work at the mutual society just six months after being released from a four-year sentence for a similar £300,000 fraud at a road construction company.

His employer, Benenden Healthcare, said it shared its members’ anger that such a criminal act and significant breach of trust and responsibility had been perpetrated on the mutual, not-for-profit organisation.

Andrew Haslam, prosecuting, said Gibbon had been declared bankrupt so none of the money could be reclaimed.

Recorder Simon Myerson QC told Gibbon: 'It is difficult to imagine a graver breach of trust. It is not a victimless crime.

'The money belonged to the society’s 900,000 members, who had banded together to afford what they could not afford individually.

'You took their money for yourself because you wanted to and you could. It is contemptible behaviour.'

Gibbon, of York, pleaded guilty to stealing £1,207,417 from Benenden Healthcare Society between January 1, 2003, and April 4, 2012.

Mr Haslam told York Crown Court that Gibbon earned between £48,000 and £55,000 a year as head of finance or acting finance director from March 1998 to April 2012.

He had control over the society’s corporate account and used it to make payments and cheques for his own purposes.

He also falsified the society’s accounts to hide his crimes, and had control over internal audits.

He was sacked in 2012 for making unauthorised payments to two women members of staff.

An internal audit after his departure revealed his crimes dated back to 2006, which was as far as the society’s records went.

The court heard Gibbon started work at the firm just six months after being released from a four-year jail sentence

Defending, Glenn Parsons, said Gibbon had intended to go straight on his release from prison in September 1997.

He said he had worked ‘legitimately and properly’ for years but succumbed to his weakness and took advantage of a culture that was at times lax.

A Benenden spokesman said Gibbon had failed to follow the values which the organisation worked to.

Mr Haslam told York Crown Court (pictured) that Gibbon earned between £48,000 and £55,000 a year as head of finance

It said that while the theft had not significantly impacted the society’s financial stability, it had an effect on its members because its assets had been depleted.

A spokesman said: 'We have undertaken a number of steps to reduce the risk of any future fraud on the society. These measures include reviewing and enhancing our internal control environment.'

He declined to say whether Benenden had been aware of Gibbon’s previous conviction when it employed him.