As Longtime Readers may know, one of my favorite stops when I’m in Britishland is Patisserie Valerie, which makes some of the best pastries I’ve ever tasted (along with outstanding croissants at breakfast time). Apparently, quality merchandise hasn’t been enough:
Patisserie Holdings plc announces today that, as a direct result of the significant fraud referred to in previous announcements, it has been unable to renew its bank facilities, and therefore regrettably the business does not have sufficient funding to meet its liabilities as they fall due.
As a consequence, the directors have appointed partners at KPMG as administrators to the company and its various subsidiaries.
The Chairman Luke Johnson has personally extended an unsecured, interest-free loan to help ensure that the January wages are paid to all staff working in the ongoing business.
This Loan will also assist the administrators in trading as many profitable stores as possible while a sale process is undertaken.
Needless to say, stores will be closed and people will lose their jobs.
This after one of its senior executives siphoned money out of the place to support his jet-set lifestyle. And if I could get hold of the asshole, his legal and financial problems would be the least of his problems.
Yes, I take my pastries that seriously.
What a terribly managed company. No way should any employee, even the CFO be able to siphon off that kind of money undetected. Total lack of controls. And they didn’t carry any kind of Employee Dishonesty insurance policy? Greedy idiots.
Nobody on their management team should ever be hired again.
Well, the fraudster has been hired – from Bloomberg:
“Mr. Christopher David Marsh, also known as Chris, serves as Finance Director of Healthy Living Centres plc. Mr. Marsh was Finance Director of Patisserie Holdings plc since July 2006 until October 26, 2018 and served as its Company Secretary until October 26, 2018. He has advised many companies over the past 15 years in both finance director and consultancy roles.”
He was released on bond after being arrested for fraud, resigned from Valerie, and these mokes hired him? WTF? If he did not commit fraud, then he’s obviously a lousy accountant and manager.
IMHO, white collar fraudsters and embezzlers get off far too easy compared to the monetary amounts involved. Burglarize a house and get the silverware, TV and 50 bucks, you get 10 years hard time. Embezzle $600,000 and get probation and a $100,000 fine; embezzle $2 million and get two years in a country club garden prison. Sell off 20% of American uranium supply and lose thousands of classified emails and you get 4 multi-million dollar mansions.
The world turned upside down.
Well, I was going to say “A pox on the fraudster” but I like your idea better, especially if it’s done publically.
“For the encouragement of others” you know…
About the time of the first gulf war, there was an IHOP franchise with a middle eastern manager/owner near here. The war started, he and the cash box departed and left the employees and bills unpaid. No notice, just gone…
I’m not sure the finance director was actually stealing money, there reports I’ve read seem to suggest that the company just wasn’t making money and the director rather than reporting this took out overdrafts and stuffed the invoices down the back of a metaphorical sofa.