Sky Bet IT exec jailed for fraud

Sky Betting & Gaming’s former head of enterprise IT, Matt Richmond, has been jailed after pleading guilty to defrauding the company of more than £200,000.

Richmond, who joined Sky Bet in July 2015, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment on Friday in Leeds Crown Court after admitting to a charge of fraud by abuse of position.

The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that Richmond, 44, was found to have ordered 113 Apple MacBooks worth £220,000 via company accounts between January and December 2018, then sold the devices for his own profit.

James Lake, prosecuting, said Richmond set his own house as the delivery address, while emails show that he requested that suppliers should deal solely with him and that the computers should not be enrolled onto the operator’s IT security portal.

The crime was uncovered when colleagues became aware that he was ordering more IT equipment than required.

Richmond initially denied the accusations, the prosecution added, however he was found to be running an eBay account that showed sales of Apple MacBooks paid for via PayPal, with £243,000 later transferred into Richmond's bank account.

Michael Collins, mitigating, said medical records show that Richmond was suffering from mental health issues and abusing alcohol during the period in question

Jailing Richmond for two years, Judge Mushtaq Khokhar said: “This was a breach of trust which your employer placed in you. I'm afraid it has to be a custodial sentence and nothing else.”

Prior to joining Sky Bet in 2015, Richmond held senior IT positions at web developer Relate, Bradford College and marketing and design business Bloom Agency.