AN EMPLOYEE who swindled a Gwent housing association out of between £60,000 and £108,000 was warned he is at “extreme risk of custody”.
Craig Williams, 45, scammed Caerphilly-based United Welsh Housing for more than five years.
The defendant had been due to be sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court after he admitted committing fraud by false representation between 2013 and 2018.
But the case was adjourned because the amount he conned the organisation out of is in dispute.
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Judge David Wynn Morgan heard how the prosecution claim the figure is £108,000 but the defendant claims it is between £60,000 and £70,000.
Williams, of Heol Keir Hardie, Penywaun, Aberdare, was represented by Andrew Kendall and the prosecution by Abigail Jackson.
The judge said of the defendant’s offending: “This was a gross breach of trust. There is an extreme risk of custody.”
Sentence was adjourned until October 2 so that the prosecution can contact United Welsh Housing.
If the sum is disputed, a Newton hearing (also known as the trial of an issue) could be held in front of a judge to resolve the factual conflict between the prosecution and defence.
The amount decided upon is an important factor in the sentencing categorisation.
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