8:30 am, February 28, 2025
A car parts salesman has narrowly avoided jail after he stole more than £15,000 from his employer in order to fund his spiralling gambling habit.
Joshua Oliver carried out a two-year campaign of fraud against Alliance Automotive Group which saw him create false refunds for items that had not been returned.
The 33-year-old used the cash to buy booze and food, as well as covering the cost of his extensive online gambling addiction.
He has now appeared at Bradford Crown Court, where he admitted to fraud by misrepresentation, the Telegraph and Argus reports.
The court heard how Oliver carried out the fraud using his father’s Alliance Automotive Group login details without his knowledge.
His Dad was branch manager for the firm’s Halifax site after the group bought out his family firm.
He was eventually given a written warning despite having no direct involvement in the fraud and the scam only came to light when bosses noticed irregularities in the account, sparking an investigation.
It was then found that a number of exhausts had been registered as returns, despite the supposedly faulty products not being sent back to the supplier.
In these cases, the figures showed that the company had still received a rebate for the products but in reality it was Oliver pocketing the money.
Speaking in court, Prosecutor Philip Adams said that the the defendant’s father was initially suspected of being responsible, before it was noted that all the transactions took place at times when he was not working.
Oliver, of Grove Crescent, Halifax, eventually admitted to being the real culprit, conceding that his gambling habit had ‘spiralled out of control’.
He also said that the fraud had ‘become an addiction itself’ during the campaign of deceit which ran from October 2021 and August 2023.
In mitigation, Oliver’s defence lawyer, John Bottomley, said his client was of previously good character and that he has since sought support for his addictions from both the NHS and specialist charities.
After hearing all the evidence, Miss Recorder Judy Dawson decided to impose a 14 month prison term, suspended for 18 months.
Oliver was also ordered to repay full £15,000 he stole at a rate of £120 per month, meaning it will be fully refunded in 2035.
He must also carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and abide by a curfew running from 7pm to 7am for the next six months.
In her summing up, the judge said that Oliver had carried out ‘a great abuse of a position of trust and responsibility’.
She said: ‘The activity was over a sustained period of almost two years, and it is apparent that had it not been discovered it would have continued.
‘This activity was not a series of impulsive decisions.’
