THE former accounts manager of a building company has admitted defrauding the business of thousands of pounds which led to the firm’s collapse.

Andrew Maxted, aged 57, of Horsemarling Farm, Standish Gate near Stonehouse was due to be sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court on Monday, June 24 for abusing a trusted position at Building Solutions Ltd.

At an earlier hearing he pleaded guilty to defrauding the Staverton Technology Park-based company of £596,000 although that figure has since been adjusted to £465,000.

At the latest hearing his solicitor Matthew Harbinson said Maxted had not benefited by that amount because during the course of the fraud he had been making payments back into the company to offset what he had been taking.

Mr Harbinson asked for an adjournment so the prosecution could study the accounts which Maxted says will show that he did not pocket anything like as much as alleged.

“In an effort to balance the books as much as he was able he did two things,” said Mr Harbinson.

“The first thing he claims to have done is that he made bank transfers himself in the other direction - and the other thing he claims to have done is to settle invoices to the firm personally so there would be redress in that way.”

Mr Harbinson said Maxted had maintained from the time of his arrest in 2021 that the ‘true loss to the business was far less than contained within the charge.’

The solicitor said there had been county court proceedings against Maxted and the civil judgement made against him had been for £110,000 - which the defence say is a figure much closer to the actual loss suffered by the company.

“He is steadfast that analysis of the financial documentation will reveal he is telling the truth,” added Mr Harbinson.

The solicitor asked the court to allow time for the prosecution to ‘establish if there is any veracity in his claims’ and to see if the true loss does equate to what the county court decided.

“It must make a material difference to the sentence whether someone has had away with in excess of half a million pounds rather than £120,000,” he said.

Prosecutor Kate Lewis said she had spoken to the victims from the company and they refuted that any money had been returned by Maxted.

The case was adjourned until July 5.

Maxted admitted fraud between October 1, 2011 and October 1 2017 while he was accounts manager.

It was previously stated that Maxted’s crime ‘destroyed’ the business, which had been trading for nearly 50 years.