Aylesbury man who stole £200k from employers to fuel gambling habit jailed

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A financial executive from Aylesbury has been jailed for stealing from his company’s accounts.

It was discovered that Philippos Economides, aged 55, of Whitehead Way, was taking money out of a business to recover gambling debts.

At Aylesbury Crown Court on Wednesday (29 January), he was sentenced to five years and four months in prison, after he admitted to fraud by abuse of position. Economides is also subject to a serious crime prevention order for five years when he is released from prison.

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His conviction relates to criminal activity he carried out after joining a recently-formed Oxfordshire business in February 2023 as a financial controller.

Philippos EconomidesPhilippos Economides
Philippos Economides

Thames Valley Police discovered that Economides did not tell his bosses of his previous convictions for fraud by abuse of position and theft by an employee during the recruitment process.

He left in December 2023, claiming that a lack of cash funding into the company had made his position impossible to fulfil.

When a new individual took over his role, the company’s finances were found to be in disarray. The controller found that a large number of payments had been made to a beneficiary called ‘PH ECO’, which Economides claimed was a Chinese supplier but he had never received supporting paperwork for the transactions.

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Thames Valley Police found that the transactions to ‘PH ECO’ were all paid into accounts held by Economides, totalling more than £223,000 over the period of his employment.

As a result, the company endured severe financial difficulties and it was forced to borrow emergency money at an expensive rate of interest to avoid insolvency.

Thames Valley Police has confirmed that Economides was arrested in April last year and, during his recorded interview, he gave a prepared statement making a full admission to stealing his employer’s money to fund his out of control gambling habit.

Detectives found that Economides’ bank accounts, over the period of his employment, had huge expenditure of over £314,000 to gambling companies, with none of the stolen money left. Economides was charged on 16 October last year.

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Head of our Central Fraud Unit and lead investigating officer, Detective Inspector Duncan Wynn, said: “I am pleased Philippos Economides has been convicted following a thorough and extensive investigation by officers from the Central Fraud Unit.

“The sentence reflects the severity of the offences whereby Economides systematically abused his position to defraud his employer of significant funds, totalling close to a quarter of a million pounds.

“Economides is a serial fraudster and did not disclose his past to his unsuspecting employer who took him on in good faith and entrusted him with their finances.

“Economides abused the trust placed in him for his own gain and caused great harm to the business.

“I hope the length of sentence imposed will act as a deterrent to others and demonstrate our commitment to pursue fraudsters and bring them to justice on behalf of victims.”

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