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Accountant paid for divorce and holidays with £545,000 fraud
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent25 Aug 2009
A boss at accountancy giant KPMG is facing jail for pocketing more than £545,000 in an expenses fraud.
Andrew Wetherall, a director at the firm, fraudulently claimed expenses to pay for holidays, cars, computers and even his divorce from his first wife.
The 49-year-old also used them over five and a half years to keep his second wife happy by funding her £15,000-a-month lifestyle.
Southwark crown court heard today how he falsely claimed £545,620.89, making several claims for flights abroad and expenses relating to business trips he never went on. After a boss raised the alarm, Wetherall initially claimed it was a mistake. But he owned up to the fraud after an internal probe.
Money was spent on legal costs for his divorce from his first wife, the purchase of a £60,000 car and part of the cost of a £14,000 car for his second wife.
Wetherall, of St Albans, used forged invoices in the fraud between September 2002 and February last year. He was suspended by KPMG and has repaid more than £337,000.
Wetherall was due to be sentenced after admitting false accounting and fraud today but the hearing was adjourned. He was bailed and will be sentenced on 15 September.
