A mum stole £100,000 from her boss to mimic his wife’s lavish lifestyle and impress her Instagram fans.
Laura Howarth splashed out on a white 4x4, expensive haircuts, VIP concert tickets and more - all at the expense of her employer.
The 41-year-old did it all in an attempt to copy the lifestyles of glamorous and wealthy women, including her boss’ own wife and hid the trail of her ill-gotten wealth amongst expense claims.
The finance assistant from Blackpool stole from her employer British Independent Utilities and when she was rumbled she lied that she had shared the money with her colleagues, LancsLive reported.
Haworth did share her illegally gained-glamorous lifestyle online, boasting her new-found wealth on Instagram and has now been jailed for ten months.
The mum of two only earned just over £900 a monthly and owed “a couple of thousand” in pay day loans in reality, a court heard.
But they were told how she stole “every single week” only stopping for holiday and maternity leave.
In 2013, Howarth was employed by the Times Top 100 company and entrusted with the petty cash and expense accounts.
But Stuart Neale, prosecuting, said that she began stealing from her employers “almost immediately”.
In August of that year she withdrew £50 from an ATM, despite cash withdrawals being forbidden by the company.
She then added the stolen money to a legitimate expense claim when she entered it on the accounting system to balance the books.
It was then she realised she could get away with it and she went on to withdraw and average of £3,000 a month.
Preston Crown Court heard Howart even applied for extensions to the credit card limits to allow her to steal up to £6,000 a month.
Jailing her for ten months, Judge Richard Gioserano said: "You stole a great deal of money to provide a lifestyle you couldn't afford - a glimpse of which can be seen on your Instagram account."
In November 2016, she blew £6,000 of company money in a month, the court heard.
But in August 2018, financial controller Chris Russell was reviewing the company credit cards and discovered one - used by Howarth - had been used to withdraw cash.
When he checked the filing cabinet he was unable to find the card statements but later found one on Howarth's desk.
An investigation was promtply launched and Howarth was suspended from her job. That night, she sent a WhatsApp message to her employer, saying: "I'm sorry for everything."
Despite her confession, the thieving finance assistant maintained her innocence to colleagues and friends until she pleaded guilty to theft of £100,000 at Preston Crown Court as she was due to stand trial.
Russ Priestley, the owner of British Independent Utilities, said: "I have worked over 100 hours a week, sacrificing social time and time with my family to build this business up.
“These events have made me question my choices and fundamentally make me look at people differently."
He said had suspicions about Howarth when he saw her driving around in a new Kia Sportage and on one occasion, when he had spent £500 a ticket to see his favourite comedian on stage in Manchester, was shocked to see Howarth and her husband seated in the row behind.
Over the course of the investigation, Mr Priestley said the disgraced employee manipulated colleagues and drove a wedge between members of staff, who were left unable to know who to believe.
He said employing people was at the heart of the business but Howarth abused the trust that was placed in her which "fundamentally broke my belief in people."
Anthony Parkinson, defending, said his client had always been a hard worker and had no previous convictions. The impact of her offending would be felt by her wider family, he said.
Sentencing, Judge Gioserano said: "You (Howarth) attempted to conceal your thefts with false accounting, and you did so over a long period of time.
“You not only covered your tracks but you increased the card limit so that you could steal more. You tried to blame others in the sense that you said what you had withdrawn had been given to other employees - and that was a very limited pool.
"Most of all, you accept you stole this money not to alleviate genuine financial hardship, not to pay for private hospital treatment for a sick member of your family, but to fund a lifestyle you couldn't otherwise afford.
“Honest, hardworking people, work hard to try and afford this, and if they can't afford it in that way they simply accept that. They do not resort to theft in order to fund it."
