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Bar chain owners jailed for £2.5million loans con
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent11 Sep 2008
Two company directors were jailed today for conning £2.5 million out of a bank and loan company to run a string of London bars and clubs.
Gary Hibberd, 45, and Timothy Allen, 36, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud between 2002 and 2004. A third charge was ordered to lie on the file.
At Southwark crown court today Judge Michael Gledhill sentenced Hibberd to six years and Allen to three-and-a-half years.
The judge said Hibberd had corrupted Allen but added that "[Allen] is his own man and not a vulnerable sheep of a man".
The pair ran a chain of bars and clubs including the Babushka chain in Hampstead, Notting Hill and Brixton, Nylon and Style in the City and other premises in Glasgow, Manchester and Bristol.
But their company, Vodka Bar Management, was based on borrowed money.
The judge condemned them for using "deceit, lies, forgery and eloquent persuasion" to defraud the Royal Bank of Scotland and loan company Lombard North Central. "They were completely taken in by you - to use a colloquialism they were well and truly conned," the judge said.
"A great deal of the money was used to fund an extravagant life and you were unscrupulous in the way you persuaded them to part with their money.
"A clear message of deterrence must be sent from this court that those who dishonestly obtain money by fraud will be punished. This was not a victimless crime and the losses are paid for in the long run by the public in general."
The court heard that the pair secured overdraft facilities by claiming they had a multimillion-pound property portfolio. They paid themselves-250,000 a year and bought a Bentley Azure to impress clients.
After their arrest neither RBS nor Lombard received a penny from the bankruptcy proceedings.
Defence counsel Geoffrey Cox QC told the court: "Their business was brought down as a consequence of over-ambition."
He added: "They ran high-end fashion bars which traded by attracting celebrity clients.
"They were well reviewed in the industry press and that necessitated an expensive and luxurious appearance to appeal to the end of the market they were aiming at."
Hibberd's brother Anthony, 42, and John O'Donnell, 43, also of Pimlico, had also been due to stand trial but were cleared of all charges when the prosecution offered no evidence.
Outside court today Detective Sergeant Jane Moore of City Police, said: "Hibberd and Allen abused their positions to benefit their business and for their own personal gain.
"The fraud they committed not only affected large organisations. It directly impacted upon the livelihoods of smaller companies, ultimately putting some of them out of business."
Reader views (14)
Just 2.5 years on and Gary Hibberd is free from prison and at liberty to live life high on the hog again.
Remorseful to have put decent small business men and women out of business? Not a bit of it. The Hibberd brothers and their associates are back to their old ways. Gary's 'coming out' party was a clear two fingers up to the banks and the little men he cheated along the way. Cristal champagne flowed and a cake iced with a 'get out of jail card free' typifies the attitude these people display. It seems business is good for some!
- Disgusted, London, 14/03/2011 12:24
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I think if you want to judge people, you should tell people what you think of the to their face, not on a blog.
These guys probably had an overzealous ambition and thought they could buy their way through what appears to be a rocky business. Something Gordon Brown has been doing to the UK economy. Some businesses succeed and some fail, but when the creditors go in, people start getting the blame. If they had paid the money back in the end, then would it be such a fraud?
But as you can see under ambitious people, perhaps those who work in a bar and do not try to run one, or envious people, who don't like to see people paying themselves wages (ps. when you work for yourself, it is a matter for yourself to decide how much you pay yourself, so even if they were earning £250k - whats the big deal), should do something in their own lives if they are full of resentfullness.
Fraud isn't a victimless crime, but judges need to pull their heads out of their 12345 and sentence people accordingly. Just think the paedophile who gets 3 years does 18 months. Wheres the sense in this system?
- John Pope, Bristol, 05/10/2009 18:17
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well if you ask if they could fool the banks and it was the banks that were givving them the money then whos falt is it
- Unknown, thames ditton england, 05/10/2009 17:17
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just today, we were having a discussion on child sexual abuse, neglect, murder etc., and once again looking at this case, proves that money is always looked on as more important than sentences against perpetrators of children
- Marigold, london, 05/10/2009 17:17
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I totally agree with Deidre and Marigold the only thing I can think in this case is the Judge can only be part of a paeophile ring if he can justify sending someone who commits such heineous acts on innocent children can get 3.5 years and the two Guys in the Fraud case who should have been checked throughly by the RBS (has anyone else tried to get a mortgate lately)can get 6 years and 3.5 respectively after the bank agreed the spending. I also read an article in the London Lite about a Father and son who stole 8.8 million pounds from the elderly and only received 4 & 2.5 years and at least these 2 guys were trying to run a business and didn't set out to steal the money from innocent people. Where has the justice system gone or has it joined ranks with Banks and gone out to knock innocnet people
- Unknown, London, 05/10/2009 17:17
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Gutted, Tims a friend of mine he was not paid £250K a year the other 3 did, Tim did not have a Bentley, this I feel is a case of when you have a multi million pound company the partners over spend, seems like you're doing well. I feel Tim did not go out to defraud the banks but to try to make it work, not to say he is in the wrong here for letting it spiral out of control, 3 and a half years is too long for this crime.
- Anon, essex, 05/10/2009 17:17
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I am disgusted that all of them didn't get sent down. Myself and my staff had the misfortune of working for them in Magnolia in Wimbledon and the lying and cheating came from all of them. They would put bills for other venues through my address and then lie to the suppliers about who was sorting the money out. They even gave my name as the accountant.
Myself and all of my staff left being owed a small fortune, as all of the cheques we were given bounced.
If anyone feels sorry for these people, you really need to get a reallity check.
- Glen Lewis, London, 05/10/2009 17:17
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I used to work for the boys and have to say what goes around comes around....
It was fun Gary, but you were never one of the Krays!
You gave it a good slog though! Hope they make good spritzers inside!
- I, London, UK, 05/10/2009 17:17
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hahahaha...Cheers for the trip to Brazil boys...reminds me of the old saying, he who laughs last laughs hardest.
Don't worry G, maybe Jose will come and visit you inside wearing his cowboy hat. You guys will both be a big hit, I'm sure.
The big surprise is that it was the White Rabbit who got taken down....and Jon and Tony got off scot free.....
Jon was always the smartest though....chinksy and myself excluded....hahahaha
Might come and visit you G, will you buy me a Vodka Redbull?
In the words of the gadfly libertarian "It was fun while it lasted"
hahahahhaa
- The Last Laugh, far, far away, 05/10/2009 17:17
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It made my day to discover that two of the five scum got their just desserts! And that the courts realised that creepy Tim played a very real part in ripping people off too. They didn't just default on loans, this was fraud. They lied and cheated their way through life and their greed made them think they could con the banks. They got away with conning staff, business associates, friends, even the breweries,EVERYONE, but they just thought they were too clever to get caught.
In terms of "is their crime worse that of others with similar sentences"... well, what they did actually wrecked or attempted to wreck many lives. This court case was the tip of a very large iceburg... the fraud had been going on for years and years. Only time will tell if Gary's boyfriend Jose will be waiting with open arms at the prison gates in six years time ready to help them continue the conning.
Yeah, there was quite a lot of fun at the time, but pleased that their's has come to an end.
And so to Bed...
- Former Friend, London, 05/10/2009 17:17
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It is correct and appropriate for these greedy fraudsters to be sent to jail. Fraud is not a victimless crime and merits severe punishment. The effort and time of the many people involved in bringing these dishonest and corrupt individuals to justice is fully justified by these sentences. Their victims will never be compensated but now have the comfort of knowing that the crooks won't be sleeping in their own comfortable beds for a long time.
- Harry Clark, Manama Bahrain, 05/10/2009 17:17
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This story makes no sense, the Bank and loan company should have vetted these two individuals and taken a closer look at the accounts. I agree with Dirdre & Marigold, our society is more intertested hash sentences for blue coller crime then crimes against childern!! We are living now in a sick society..
- Jay, London, 05/10/2009 17:17
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i forced myself to read a story in the daily mail the other day about an upper class paedophile who had just recieved a three and a half year sentence for comitting the most horrific crimes against innocent children, and then i read about a fraud case in which there was no violence and the guilty parties recieved a three and a half year and a six year sentence. what the hell is going on in our justice system? where's the sense, i ask you this are all residing judges members of this upper crust gang of child killers too?
- Diedre, london, 05/10/2009 17:17
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Tim should not be jailed, gary tony and john should be. They still run bars check out the Rose vauxhall
- Uncle, london, 05/10/2009 17:17
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