Sin Bin: Bannatyne finance director jailed over £8m fraud

Christopher Watson, who claimed he was exposed to a “culture of undoubtedly corrupt company management”, pleaded guilty to defrauding the Bannatyne Group of £7,974,221 from July 2008 to July 2014.

Watson, 46, took huge sums from Bannatyne’s Fitness Limited over a period of years to cover his debts with major betting firms.

The married father-of-three, from Cleveland Avenue, Darlington, used the money to fund his gambling habit, spending £5.4m at one bookmaker, and bought a number of properties.

The judge at Teesside Crown Court sentenced the 46-year-old father-of-three, of Cleveland Avenue, Darlington, to four years and eight months.

The Bannatyne Group, which is based in Darlington, was set up by the entrepreneur, who is best-known for his role in the Dragons’ Den BBC series, in 1996 and runs health clubs and hotels across the UK.

Mr Bannatyne was not in court, but a statement by him was read out by the prosecution in which it said he was “absolutely shocked and appalled at the callous actions of Mr Watson”.

It went on to say he had raised the issue of increasing some staff’s pay from the minimum wage level, but “Chris Watson argued cashflow would not allow it”.

He had refinanced the firm in 2014, and sold freehold land which he had to then rent back, “although it had always been my plan to pass the land along with my companies to my children”.

Andrew West, prosecuting, said the offending was an abuse of trust by the accountant, who worked at the firm’s Darlington head office.

“He siphoned off huge amounts of money from corporate accounts to accounts held by him,” the court heard.

Watson made 162 fraudulent transactions from Bannatyne’s Fitness, and used the money to finance his gambling, or to further his own financial interests.

The finance director, who was also company secretary at the time, was paid £85,000 a year, plus a “generous bonus scheme”.

He was promoted onto the board after joining the firm in 2007.

Mr West said Watson tried to cover up his dishonesty by submitting doctored invoices which he could pay into his own accounts.

He used the money to pay off debts of £5.4 million at the betting firm Spreadex, with another £500,000 at Ladbrokes and £250,000 at Sporting Index.

When Watson was eventually arrested he told police he found he had the opportunity to steal and claimed he had been corrupted.

Mr West said: “He took money as he thought they were all doing it.”

Adrian Langdale, defending, said: “He is very much a product of the environment he found.”

Watson was almost 40 when he joined the firm and was a “good, honest, hard-working individual”.

Mr Langdale said: “He found a culture of undoubtedly corrupted company management.

“It is clear he was getting corrupted both financially and morally. He began to lose sight of where the line lay, the line between what’s right and wrong.”

Mr Langdale said it was a stressful job and there was bullying.