Accountant thief told to return £450,000

A chartered accountant from South Staffordshire who stole hundreds of thousands of pounds from his employers must pay back nearly £450,000 or face more time behind bars.

Jason Hendry, aged 40, stole £353,000 from the property management agency he worked for, Vail Williams, over a period of several years.

Hendry, of Shareshill, had joined the company as a chartered accountant under false pretences, failing to tell bosses he had a criminal record.

West Midlands Police said today Hendry would access clients' accounts and transfer the cash to his own accounts.

He was arrested in 2008 and jailed for four-and-a-half years last September after admitting 12 charges of theft and one of obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception.

Yesterday a judge at Birmingham Crown Court ordered him to pay back the £443,000 within six months.

The judge ordered compensation of £65,000 to be paid to Royal Sun Alliance, which also lost out as part of the scam, and £192,798 to employer Vail Williams. A further £185,979 will be confiscation to police.

If he fails to pay he faces a further three years in prison and will still owe the money.

Police could then sell his assets, which are restrained.

Financial investigator Natalie Hart, of West Midlands Police's economic crime unit, said: "This is an excellent outcome and demonstrates that the police, supported by the courts, will seek to confiscate any assets that have been obtained by criminal activity.

"We hope this confiscation order will send a clear message to criminals that crime does not pay."

Last year, police said criminals in the West Midlands were ordered to hand over nearly £10 million in cash and assets acquired through crime.

More than £2.2m in cash was seized while a further £7.3m was ordered to be paid back after Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation orders were issued by the courts.