Ex-business director Philip Whettingsteel (72) from Barton jailed for fraudulently borrowing £275,000
A FORMER business director from Barton has been jailed for fraud over a loan of £275,000.
Philip Whettingsteel (72), of Marine Drive East, was sent down for two-and-a-half years after committing three counts of business fraud between April and September 2017.
Southampton Crown Court heard the pensioner provided misleading and fictitious information to borrow large sums of money from a lender based in Kings Worthy.
Whettingsteel handed over false invoices and lied about two contracts, which he stated were worth millions of pounds.
During all these incidents, which happened while he was director of a business, the defendant knew he would never be able to repay the loans.
In addition to the prison term, Whettingsteel will be banned from serving as director of a business for a further six months.
The judge refused to allow full credit for his early plea, saying he had waited until the very last moment despite having had two years to acknowledge his guilt.
Welcoming the outcome, DC Victoria Cobley said: “I am so pleased for the victim in this case. They have waited almost seven years for justice to be served, and now it finally has been.
“As the judge stated while summing up, the impact of the offending and harm caused to the victim was serious.
“The victim has had to wait a long time to see Whettingsteel pay for his crimes, but their strong support during our investigation has helped to ensure that he is now behind bars, where he belongs.”
DC Cobley added: “I know the victim is happy with the outcome, and I just hope that this result will enable them to move on with their life, safe in the knowledge that Whettingsteel can no longer do similar to anybody else.”
Fraud or cybercrime victims can alert Action Fraud using its online reporting tool at tinyurl.com/2drujt3m or by ringing 0300 123 2040 Monday to Friday (8am-8pm).
Police can be contacted online via hampshire.police.uk or by calling 101; and Crimestoppers can be reached anonymously at crimestoppers-uk.org or on 0800 555 111.
