Post by privateinvestors on Oct 13, 2013 18:39:33 GMT 4
Robert Moran: Former bank manager jailed for 'despicable fraud' against cancer charity
Judge tells the 57-year-old instead of showing contrition, he had quite arrogantly tried to fool a jury.
A FORMER bank manager convicted of “a despicable fraud” against a cancer charity has been jailed for 12 weeks.
Robert Moran, 57, who was treasurer of the Anglesey Macmillan Cancer Support Trust, was told that rather than showing contrition, he had quite arrogantly tried to fool a jury.
Judge Niclas Parry said at Mold Crown Court that initially he claimed to have walked into a local office of Help for Heroes and handed over £2,250 in cash from the Macmillan charity.
When it was shown by the prosecution that had simply not happened, he tried to persuade the jury that he paid the money into the Help for Heroes account during two visits to banks in another part of the country.
“Your arrogance now extends to steadfastly failing to accept the verdict,” the judge told him.
He had shown no remorse and had failed to make any offer of repayment out of the funds that he told the jury he had available.
The judge said that where it was conceivably possible the jury had given the defendant the benefit of the doubt and had cleared him of other charges.
“But where no such doubt existed, where your criminality was blatant and obvious, the jury rightly convicted you,” he said.
He had put himself forward as a professional person, prepared to give of his time to improve the practices adopted by a local branch of a national charity.
“The reality is that you took advantage of the vulnerability of your fellow committee members, elderly, committed and decent people. Their knowledge of how to handle finances was limited and they looked to you as the local bank manager to help them.”
The judge added: “Yes their procedures were lax, yes they were open to abuse, but they worked for so long as people trusted each other. They worked until someone was prepared to take advantage.”
The sum was not significant but in the context of the efforts people were making to raise modest funds it was.
Judge Parry said that it was a personal tragedy for Moran, of the Sportsman’s Lodge at Rhosgoch. He was of good character and had led an industrious life, he had spent many hours of genuine commitment to the charity and helped raise thousands of pounds. But the public would be rightly appalled at his conduct and would expect an appropriate sentence.
Elen Owen, defending, said Moran did not accept the conviction and he had produced a receipt of £1,650 which he said showed money had been paid to Help for Heroes. Her client did not seek out the position of treasurer of the Macmillan charity but had been asked to help by an elderly lady.
Moran was cleared of four other alleged frauds – and one attempted fraud – last month. In evidence he said that the original cheque for Help for Heroes had been lost and he paid it in cash into their account.
Moran was originally charged with a fraud of more than £6,000 and an attempted fraud of a further £1,000 but was cleared of the further charges.
Prosecutor Simon Mills had branded Moran “arrogant, slippery, evasive and devious”.
Moran denied that he was addicted to gambling at the time or that he was in financial difficulties after the prosecutor highlighted a large number of payments from his bank account to William Hill.
A former manager of Barclays Banks at Amlwch, Caernarfon and Llangefni before his resignation amid allegations that he breached banking rules, he now runs a B&B and his own greetings card company.
Moran claims that all transfers from the Anglesey branch of Macmillan Cancer Support Trust were authorised by the local committee but the prosecution claimed that large sums were transferred from the charity into his own account which then disappeared to meet his debts.
Judge tells the 57-year-old instead of showing contrition, he had quite arrogantly tried to fool a jury.
A FORMER bank manager convicted of “a despicable fraud” against a cancer charity has been jailed for 12 weeks.
Robert Moran, 57, who was treasurer of the Anglesey Macmillan Cancer Support Trust, was told that rather than showing contrition, he had quite arrogantly tried to fool a jury.
Judge Niclas Parry said at Mold Crown Court that initially he claimed to have walked into a local office of Help for Heroes and handed over £2,250 in cash from the Macmillan charity.
When it was shown by the prosecution that had simply not happened, he tried to persuade the jury that he paid the money into the Help for Heroes account during two visits to banks in another part of the country.
“Your arrogance now extends to steadfastly failing to accept the verdict,” the judge told him.
He had shown no remorse and had failed to make any offer of repayment out of the funds that he told the jury he had available.
The judge said that where it was conceivably possible the jury had given the defendant the benefit of the doubt and had cleared him of other charges.
“But where no such doubt existed, where your criminality was blatant and obvious, the jury rightly convicted you,” he said.
He had put himself forward as a professional person, prepared to give of his time to improve the practices adopted by a local branch of a national charity.
“The reality is that you took advantage of the vulnerability of your fellow committee members, elderly, committed and decent people. Their knowledge of how to handle finances was limited and they looked to you as the local bank manager to help them.”
The judge added: “Yes their procedures were lax, yes they were open to abuse, but they worked for so long as people trusted each other. They worked until someone was prepared to take advantage.”
The sum was not significant but in the context of the efforts people were making to raise modest funds it was.
Judge Parry said that it was a personal tragedy for Moran, of the Sportsman’s Lodge at Rhosgoch. He was of good character and had led an industrious life, he had spent many hours of genuine commitment to the charity and helped raise thousands of pounds. But the public would be rightly appalled at his conduct and would expect an appropriate sentence.
Elen Owen, defending, said Moran did not accept the conviction and he had produced a receipt of £1,650 which he said showed money had been paid to Help for Heroes. Her client did not seek out the position of treasurer of the Macmillan charity but had been asked to help by an elderly lady.
Moran was cleared of four other alleged frauds – and one attempted fraud – last month. In evidence he said that the original cheque for Help for Heroes had been lost and he paid it in cash into their account.
Moran was originally charged with a fraud of more than £6,000 and an attempted fraud of a further £1,000 but was cleared of the further charges.
Prosecutor Simon Mills had branded Moran “arrogant, slippery, evasive and devious”.
Moran denied that he was addicted to gambling at the time or that he was in financial difficulties after the prosecutor highlighted a large number of payments from his bank account to William Hill.
A former manager of Barclays Banks at Amlwch, Caernarfon and Llangefni before his resignation amid allegations that he breached banking rules, he now runs a B&B and his own greetings card company.
Moran claims that all transfers from the Anglesey branch of Macmillan Cancer Support Trust were authorised by the local committee but the prosecution claimed that large sums were transferred from the charity into his own account which then disappeared to meet his debts.
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