The career of a high-flying chartered accountant was in ruins today after he was jailed for stealing more than £650,000 from two employers.

Father-of-four Jonathan Ashcroft, 39, from Broadwell, Stow-on-the-Wold, was sent down for three-and-a-half years at Oxford Crown Court after admitting nine charges of theft.

Ashcroft initially worked for accountants Cooper & Lybrand, stealing more than £130,000 before being head-hunted by Oxfordshire-based management consultants, The Pera Group, to be their financial director on £65,000 a year. Paul Mitchell, prosecuting, said Ashcroft proceeded to steal £500,000 from his new employers - based at Middle Aston - by transferring money from them to his offshore account in the Isle of Man.

He did this through fictitious invoices to two companies he controlled, fraudulently transferring funds and falsifying documents to cover up his fiddling.

Mr Mitchell said a large amount of money remained in Ashcroft's offshore account, and with that and the sale of his house he had repaid the half-million pounds lost by The Pera Group. James Mason, defending, said it had never been a sophisticated operation and Ashcroft was bound to be exposed by an audit investigation.

He went on: "It is not a case of money going on a fantastical Walter Mitty lifestyle of wine, women and song. His life is utterly and completely in ruins and he faces the contempt of his colleagues, his community and friends.

"It is not a happy situation between him and his wife, and He will be struck off by the Institute of Chartered Accountants." Ashcroft told the court: "I would like to say how sorry and ashamed I am for the distress my actions have caused people I worked with and those close to me. My wife is a very nice and considerate person and she had absolutely no idea about this, and it would be wrong for her reputation to be tarnished."

Judge Anthony King told him a prison sentence was inevitable, due to his gross breach of trust with two employers.

Story date: Monday 25 October

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