Shropshire Star

Manager who defrauded Mid Wales firm of steel orders ordered to pay back £23,000

The manager of a Mid Wales steel company who "cynically siphoned off" orders from his employers into his own company has been ordered to pay back £23,000.

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In less than 12 months Hubert Cadenne de Lannoy, 36, diverted more than £23,000 worth of orders and materials from his employer Dyfed Steel in Newtown into a new company he had set up called Agri Steels.

De Lannoy, of Dolfor, Newtown, had been manager at Dyfed since 2007.

But prosecutor Sion ap Minhangel told Mold Crown Court that Dyfed company secretary Alan Morgan became aware of an excessive number of credit notes from the Newtown depot.

On one order in July 2013, from a customer in Staffordshire, Digibits, there was a discrepancy between the credit note and the original invoice. De Lannoy, a married man with two young children, claimed there had been an error and the steel had been cut too short.

There was a similar discrepancy in April 2014 when an investigation showed 129 tonnes of Dyfed's materials had gone and again de Lannoy had tried to claim orders had been wrongly cut.

But when Mr Morgan asked for the steel to be returned it was found that the Digibits order had been re-invoiced to Agri Steel – a company Mr Morgan had never heard of.

Mr ap Mihangel said an investigation of other orders showed a similar pattern. One of Dyfed's customers said they had bought the steel from Agri when it was offered 10 per cent cheaper.

De Lannoy was arrested and interviewed by police in April 2015.

Mr ap Mihangel said the defendant, who pleaded guilty to fraud, had swindled the company he worked for out of £23,244 worth of orders, which he used Dyfed's steel to fulfil.

De Lannoy had 11 previous convictions for 38 offences and had served a jail sentence for robbery. John Hedgecoe, defending, said de Lannoy was in a position to repay over a period of time, providing he could continue to trade. His business now employs six people.

Judge Eleri Rees said no-one could buy their way out of trouble. She said: "You were employed in a position of some trust being a general manager and set up your own company and started to siphon off orders and materials to your own company . . . It was a cynical exercise by you. It is a shame because your last conviction was 2005 and you seemed to have left your criminal career behind you."

But she acknowledged his guilty plea and that others were now dependant on him and gave him a 16-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months. He was given a supervision order for 18 months and ordered to carry out 180 hours unpaid work and pay just over £23,000 compensation as well as £670 costs and £100 victim's surcharge – all within 12 months.

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