A 30 year old UK man from Lewes, England has been convicted of stealing £155,012 from the dental firm where he worked as an accountant in order to feed his online gambling addiction.
Vimal Patel was sentenced to two years in prison, which was suspended due to the defendant's previous good character. The man had stolen the funds between May 2011 and February 2012.
The defendant has repaid £57,696.31 to the dental firm, but the company claims that it still is showing loses of £97,315.89 because of the theft.
Speaking to the defendant Judge Guy Anthony said, "Over a course of several months you stole from your employer who trusted you to deal with their financial matters. You took part in high-stakes gambling and, although you paid about a third of the money back, the company is still nearly £100,000 out of pocket."
In addition to repaying the outstanding balance, Patel was ordered to perform 300 hours of unpaid work.