A fraudster who used company cash to buy electronics to sell back to workmates at knockdown prices was today told to pay back back thousands to his bosses.

Purchasing manager Jason Alexander, 39, used a company credit card to buy almost £91,000 of iPads, phones and computer equipment.

A court heard "philanthropic" Alexander then sold them to his colleagues on the cheap - offering them £5,000 items for as little as £180.

But manufacturing company purchasing manager Alexander, 39, was caught after buying almost 300 electronic items.

He was ordered to pay back £23,000  to his company in six months - or face 18 months imprisonment if he defaults on repayments.

Judge Stephen Hopkins QC told him: "It seems you were doing it as some kind of philanthropic act.

"In some cases spending £5,000 on items and then selling the items to employees for as little as £180 on the philanthropic basis they will not have been able to buy the items themselves."

Alexander had control of spending as the purchasing manager at car parts company Northern Automotive Systems in Gilwern near Abergavenny.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how he made 287 purchases on internet sites such as Amazon, eBay and Argos, spending a total of £90,956.

The company's usual monthly credit card bill was in the hundreds, but when Alexander became purchasing manager the bill "increased to nearly £10,000 per month".

But Alexander's scheme was found out when suspicious company managers asked employees if any of them had bought cut priced electrical goods.

The conman deleted emails as well as falsifying invoices, receipts and card statements to cover his trail.

The trusted employee - who had worked at the company for 14 years - also bought petrol for his white Land Rover, red Mini and his partner's Ford Fiesta. He also bought tickets for Nicky Minaj concert. Alexander, of Griffithstown, near Pontypool,, admitted fraud after being caught following an "internal investigation".

He was jailed for two years at an earlier hearing - and today warned he will face another 18 months unless he paid back the money The court heard some of the money will come from equity on properties in Abertillery and Pontypool, as well as the sale of his Land Rover Freelander.

Judge Hopkins QC said: "You had an enormous impact on a large number of perfectly innocent people. Those to whom you sold goods to now feel stupid and stressed.

The impact upon your colleagues has been awful. You have stolen from the company and there was a dip in morale for a period.

"This was a gross and serious breach of trust over a substantial period of years."