Accountant jailed over ‘large scale dishonesty’ to repay £240,000

Stephen Day was locked up for 11 years and five months at Leeds Crown Court in April 2021 after pleading guilty to 10 counts of fraud and two counts of theft.

The 55-year-old lied, used his authority in job positions and manipulated his personal relationships to take advantage of and defraud a wide variety of victims of over £1.3 million.

Targets plundered by Day, formerly of Lincoln Court in Chapelford, included companies, individuals and three NHS trusts including Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

He also defrauded a female friend in a romance fraud, despite being in separate relationships with two men.

He used this money obtained fraudulently to fund his own lavish and extravagant lifestyle, including buying several properties and travelling to foreign countries, including a trip to Malta.

Day purchased several properties in Scotland, including a 45-acre estate which had its own salmon fishing area on the River Annan, and is it thought another development in South Africa to let out as a holiday rental, according to investigating detectives.

When sentencing, judge Simon Batiste said: “There was no boundary of dishonesty that you were not prepared to cross.

“The consequences have been enormous, both financially and in other respects, including businesses losing viability and being wound up, people losing their jobs, reputational damage, loss of credit rating and people being unable to sell their homes.

“In short you have caused misery, hardship and anxiety to many. This was industrial scale dishonesty purely to fulfil your own greed.”

Because Day used a web of transactions between several accounts to conceal his offending, calculating the true value of his ill-gotten gains required significant work.

Trying to recoup this money from Day was made even more complicated by the fact he was subject to a bankruptcy order.

Stephen Day enjoyed a luxury lifestyle at 45-acre Scottish estate

Despite this, the Crown Prosecution Service worked tirelessly to engage with the trustee in bankruptcy to identify assets that were available to him.

This included all four of his pensions, all his shares, his car and a personalised number plate.

Day appeared back in court this month for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing to determine how much of his ill-gotten gains he would have to repay.

As a result, a confiscation order was made against him covering all of his available assets, which together were valued at £237,688.61.

He has been given three months to pay, and in the event of non-payment, the default sentence was set at 20 months imprisonment.

Tori Boycott, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said: “Stephen Day was calculated in his offending.

“Despite his attempts to conceal the true scale of funds fraudulently gained and filing for bankruptcy, this did not prevent a confiscation order from being made.

“The CPS’ Proceeds of Crime Division worked closely with the police financial investigator to ensure Day was stripped of his available assets, even targeting his pensions.

“The money recovered will be used to compensate his victims.

“This case illustrates that even when criminals are convicted and sentenced, we will work hard to continue to pursue them for the money they owe, or they risk an additional sentence of imprisonment being imposed.”

The CPS says it is committed to working with law enforcement to identify and prosecute those that profit from fraud, particularly where it impacts the NHS.