Accountant Warned that Jail is 'Inevitable'

An accountant who fiddled half a million pounds for himself fr om the flooring company wh ere he worked is facing jail.

Christopher Bailey, 59, of Parley Beams Cottages, Earls Colne, Essex, pleaded guilty to three offences of fraudulently obtaining a total of £514,244 over a seven year period from his employer Aerofloor Ltd of Colchester.

He appeared in the dock at Chelmsford Crown Court and was told by Judge Anthony Goldstaub QC : ‘It's an inevitable outcome for an amount of this size.’

His lawyer Peter Barlex said: ‘He has no illusions.’

Bailey, who has no previous convictions, admitted falsifying the accounts between 28 May 2004 and 17 April 2011.

He also pleaded guilty to obtaining £124,123 by deception from company owner Clive Jones between 28 May 2004 and 14 January 2007 by falsely representing that the accounts prepared by him were accurate.

The third offence was fraud between 15 January 2007 and 17 April 2011 by abusing his position as company accountant and falsely obtaining for himself £390,121.

The prosecution did not open the case and sentence was adjourned for reports until February 2012. Bailey was remanded on bail.