IOU thief spent £1m on race tips

Victims 'destroyed' by bank thief

A former financial consultant who stole from investors and the Halifax Bank spent more than £1m on racing tipster fees, Swansea Crown Court was told.

Graham Price, of Llansamlet, Swansea, has admitted 43 charges of theft and asked for 263 offences relating to a £10m scam to be taken into account.

Price, 58, left an IOU note for £7m to the Halifax in a safe at the bank's agency office in Gowerton near Swansea.

Fifty of the 84 investors were in court and sentencing continues on Tuesday.

The court heard that Price also owned or jointly owned 13 racehorses, including one called Cart Diamond, on which he spent £69,000.

He had bought two Mercedes cars for a total of £71,000, invested £500,000 in a share portfolio and had put more than £100,000 into premium bonds for himself, his wife, son and daughter.

Of the racing fees, Christopher Clee prosecuting said Price had paid two separate tipsters in Brighton, fees of £250,000 and £240,000.

The rest of the fees were spread about the country.

He had three betting accounts, including an online account and telephone account, but it was unclear how much he had spent on these.

The court heard he had occasional wins but would leave his winnings in the account and gamble again. Judge John Diehl was told that the ownership of some of the animals was still being investigated.

Apart from that, Mr Clee, said that there was "no obvious extravagance".

He lived in a semi-detached house, although he had paid off the mortgage of a house for his son in Penllegaer in Swansea and had been on holiday to York and Portugal.

Some of Price's victims arrive in court to hear him sentenced

The court also was told of the experiences of his victims.

Many were in their 60s, 70s and 80s, but they included a 91 and 89-year-old couple, who jointly lost £32,000.

Mr Clee said Price had encouraged some investors to remortgage their homes. Several of them were now having to sell their properties.

Others had handed over large sums from their pensions and inheritances, which had been lost.

The court was told of several victims in their 60s who had since had to return to work, as their life savings had been wiped out.

Price persuaded the husband of one of his employees to hand over his £51,000 lump sum pension and he has since been forced to return to work.

"These people have all in effect lost money they can ill afford to lose," said Mr Clee.

An earlier hearing was told Price began taking money from the Halifax Bank agency's safe in Gowerton and stealing from investors' accounts in January 2001.

But Price was caught out when an unannounced cash audit was carried out in November 2004.

A Halifax auditor found only three empty boxes and a scrap of paper in the branch safe.

The IOU note left by Price simply said: "I have borrowed £7m from the Halifax'".

In total he stole £10m, including £3m during a nine-day period last summer.

Solicitors for some of the investors have said their clients could face a long battle to regain their money back.

The Halifax has said it was not responsible for those who had invested with Price in his personal capacity and that they too were victims of his theft.

He was remanded into custody overnight, with sentencing continuing on Tuesday.