A former Lloyds Bank manager who stole £175,000 to fuel his gambling addiction is selling his house and forfeiting his pension to pay back the money.
Ashley Chamberlain, 34, stole the cash between December 2017 and June 2021 while in charge of Lloyd’s in Eastgate Street, Gloucester.
He was caught following an audit of the bank and later admitted fraud by abuse of position at Gloucester Crown Court.
On Thursday, he was given a two-year jail term suspended for 18 months.
The court heard he has spent £970,000 gambling online, and would funnel cash from his employer into his own Lloyd’s account before transferring it to a Halifax account he used for placing bets.
He had winnings of £570,000 but then lost that too.
But since his arrest he has been seeking help from Gamblers Anonymous and has not placed a bet for more than two years.
Chamberlain has put his house up for sale and emptied his pension pot in order to pay back Lloyds and has also set up a payment plan, the court heard.
He has also set up a landscape gardening business.
‘Reputational issue’
The judge, Recorder David Chidgey, did not send him immediately to prison but ordered him to pay an additional £30,000 compensation to Lloyds and complete 250 hours of unpaid work.
In a victim business impact statement, Lloyds Bank said Chamberlain’s actions could become “a reputational issue” for its brand.
“Furthermore his activity may affect customer confidence and integrity at the Gloucester branch,” it said.
Matthew Harbinson, defending Chamberlain, said his client had been close to paying back everything he had defrauded from Lloyds but the sale of his house fell through at the last moment.
“The house is still on the market, which means his position is somewhat different to that which had been hoped,” Mr Harbinson said.
“Documentation has been submitted to the court to show that everything that could have been done, has been done – he is desperate to redress the situation.”
‘Gambling addiction’
He said that Chamberlain’s £62,000 pension pot had already been paid to the bank.
Recorder Chidgey told Chamberlain: “You have shown remorse as well as a significant act of contrition by giving away some of your future financial security.”
He added: “This is a case which is characterised by the things you’ve done since your guilty plea.
“You’ve lost a well-paid job and I appreciate you were not living a luxurious lifestyle from your fraudulent activities, but servicing a gambling addiction.”
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