A 53 year old man from Stockport, UK was sentenced to 5 years, 8 months in jail after he plead guilty to stealing almost £1,000,000 from his position as a financial advisor in order to feed his online gambling habit.
Michael Garner was sentenced to the stiff jail term after he plead guilty to the thefts. The financial advisor stole funds by forging a bank mandate and withdrawing money from a trust which he had helped set up. Victims in Garner's theft included the charity firm Cheadle and Gatley Round Table.
The total amount that he ended up diverting was around £900,000.
The money was spent supporting Garner's vicious gambling habit, as he racked up more than £1.5 million at Jackpot Joy. His addiction had become so bad that he was spending £10,000 per day gambling, with high amounts of £80,000 on some days. In all, Garner only won back roughly half of what he ended up putting in.
The defendant's crime was discovered after one of the other trustees on the fund that he ravaged spoke to a bank manager, realizing that the large sum of money had been stolen.
Speaking to the court, Garner's attorney said that he is remorseful, and that the criminal's home has been sold in order to help repay some of the damages he has incurred.