Staffordshire director jailed
A company director from Staffordshire has been sentenced to four years' imprisonment after stealing more than £120,000 from his own holdings company. Paul Mulholland of Kings Bromley, Staffordshire, was prosecuted by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
He was also disqualified from being a company director for ten years.
Mullholland stole £121,425 from holdings company BI Industries where he was sole director. The money was paid to BI Industries by the European Commission to coordinate a research project to develop an alternative thickening agent to gelatine.
Mulholland instructed the company’s bank to transfer the money to another company account, held by Shobwood Engineering, of which he was also a sole director. Both companies went into liquidation, and the money was not recovered.
The former director also pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraudulently removing funds from Elson Industries where he was, again, the only director.
On passing sentence at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Recorder John Steel QC said that Mulholland had breached the trust of banks, the EU and their research and development partners, and the HMRC.
The judge said that he had no alternative but to impose an immediate custodial sentence.
