9:01 am, October 23, 2024
A ‘thoroughly dishonest’ car salesman who stole almost £33,000 from his employer has been ordered to repay just £1 by a judge.
Car Dealer reported in June how Ceri Lewis siphoned off tens of thousands of pounds of company funds in order to fund his ‘lavish lifestyle’, during a three-year stint at Penybanc Car Sales in Ammanford.
He was jailed over the summer but has now returned to court for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which is designed to recover funds gained via criminality.
Swansea Crown Court heard that Lewis, 49, benefitted from his offending to the tune of £38,104.10, having stolen a staggering £32,798.79 from the small family business.
However, the judge only imposed a confiscation order of £1 and ordered Lewis to pay a victim surcharge of £140 after his release from prison, the South Wales Guardian reports.
Car Dealer was not in court for the hearing but a nominal £1 order can be issued if the defendant has no assets or funds to repay the amount owed.
Under the act, the ruling can be revisited if the defendant’s financial position improves.
At Lewis’s earlier appearance, the court heard how Penybanc Car Sales had taken the defendant on, despite knowing he had previous convictions for theft and fraud.
The 49-year-old used his growing influence at the company to fiddle bank payments and bag funds that were meant for creditors.
He even swiped money that was meant for a director’s monthly salary before deleting the evidence as part of a long-running campaign of fraud.
When he was finally confronted by bosses, he admitted his actions and agreed a repayment plan of £1,000 a month.
However, the salesman later defaulted on his payments, having repaid £21,000, and the police were called in to deal with the issue.
‘Crying and begging for another chance’
The court was told that Lewis initially joined the company in January 2014, having left his previous role following his convictions, which included two charges of theft by an employee, as well as two of fraud by false representation.
Penybanc Car Sales boss Richard Safardi was aware of Lewis’s past but wanted to give him a chance, having previously done business with him.
Within months of being given the opportunity, Lewis was caught stealing £400 but was was allowed to stay on after ‘crying and begging for another chance’.
He went on to rise through the ranks, eventually gaining access to the company’s bank accounts.
It was during this time, prosecutor Ryan Bowen told the court, that Safardi began receiving complaints from creditors who hadn’t been paid.
The boss put the issues down to error and paid the money owed but they continued to rear their head.
In June 2022, the firm found itself subject to a VAT review, which revealed that director Catrin Safardi hadn’t been receiving her monthly salary of £1,000.
An investigation found that Lewis had been covertly redirecting the money into his own account and deleting the evidence.
When confronted, the defendant told his bosses that he had ‘been in a bad place’ and admitted stealing £32,798.79 over a three-year period, which Bowen said was used to ‘support a lavish lifestyle’.
It was at this point that the parties agreed the £1,000 monthly repayment plan, with Lewis’s parents acting as guarantors.
Lewis then repaid £21,000 before defaulting, at which stage Richard Safardi confronted Lewis’s mother and father. It then transpired the couple had no idea about their son’s arrangement and the police were finally called in.
He was sentenced to 20 months behind bars, with judge Paul Thomas KC describing the defendant as a ‘thoroughly dishonest man’.
Pictured: Swansea Crown Court via PA Images
