Former Welsh Slate directors jailed
THREE former senior executives of Alfred McAlpine Slate Ltd (Welsh Slate), a subsidiary of Alfred McAlpine plc, were jailed this month after admitting a £12 million fraud in which they deliberately overstated the company’s production and sales figures over a number of years to make Welsh Slate appear more successful than it was.
Following a joint investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and North Wales Police, Christopher Law, former managing director of Welsh Slate, Geraint Roberts, former operations director for the roofing division of Welsh Slate, and Paul Harvey, former sales director (non-statutory) of Welsh Slate, each pleaded guilty to fraudulent-trading charges and were sentenced to two-and-a-half years, 16 months and 10 months imprisonment respectively.
In addition, Mr Law and Mr Roberts have been disqualified from acting as company directors for four years and three years respectively.
The prosecution case centred on the fact that the three defendants had collaborated with each other over a number of years to falsify the company’s invoicing, management accounts and audited accounts. Examples of the deception included showing auditors a stockpile of crates of roofing slate where the outer crates were full but the inner ones empty, as well as forged customer letters, delivery notes and transportation invoices for non-existent consignments.
The fraud resulted in a £40 million dent in Alfred McAlpine’s 2006 pre-tax profits and led to the loss of 120 jobs. The Welsh Slate business was subsequently sold by Alfred McAlpine in late 2007 and continues to trade, under new management, from its base at Penrhyn Quarry, near Bangor, in Gwynedd.
