A former architect has been handed three years in jail for his part in defrauding a housing charity of £3.5m.
Guy Peter Pound, 71, was sentenced on Monday. He is from the Isle of Man but traded from offices in Poole, Dorset.

Two quantity surveyors – Peter Russell Beard of Brighton and Anthony Erskine Green of Lewes, Sussex – were given prison terms of nine months suspended for 12 months on 26 March for their part in the fraud.

The three defrauded the Talbot Village Trust, a Dorset charity, by invoicing for construction-related work that had not been done and disguising inflated professional fees in the contracts. The case centred on six construction projects between 1985 and 1995 and worth a total of £15m.

The trust has an annual income of about £1.3m.

The Serious Fraud Office investigation began in 1999, and in one example found some roads on the trust's estates were missing a layer that had been paid for.

Proceedings have begun to assess the assets of the three for possible confiscation. The judge could decide to pass assets on to the Talbot Village Trust as compensation but they are normally passed to the exchequer to contribute towards the cost of the investigation and trial.

Source

Housing Today