A Co Down accountant who abused his position as church treasurer to swindle close £400,000 from the church’s accounts was been handed a two year sentence.
Ordering Ernest Reddick to serve a year in jail and the same period on licence conditions, Judge Donna McColgan KC said there were significant aggravating features to his offending in that, apart from the large amount of money he stole, the frauds had been committed over almost a decade and at a time when he was in a elevated position of trust.
She said despite benevolent attitude adopted by the pastor and congregation of the church and the fact that 60-year-old Reddick had re-mortgaged his home and sold other assets to make full restitution of the £390,571 he stole, the offending was so serious that it warranted an immediate prison sentence
Reddick, a director with CMC accountants who is from the Diamond Road in Dromore Co Down, entered guilty pleas to 12 charges of fraud by abuse of position and one of false accounting between 1 January 2012 and 30 November 2021, against Lisburn Baptist Church.
The frauds had “come to light due to discrepancies in gift aid” and when Reddick was spoken to, he immediately admitted that he had been transferring money from the church’s accounts into his own.
While the offending came to light in 2021, Judge McColgan said Reddick had been elected as church treasurer in 2010 and as such, he had sole access and control of the four bank accounts as well as responsibility and authority to pay for “everyday routine payments.”
Anything outside of routine bills had to be approved at a monthly meeting but investigations revealed that Reddick had been abusing his position to transfer funds directly from the church to his own accounts.
An external audit company were brought in and having trawled through ten years of banking documents, Judge McColgan said they reported back that £389,121 had been illegally transferred by the defendant.
Enquiries also revealed that Reddick had applied for and obtained a £25,000 loan in the church’s name and while it was paid into a church bank account, he transferred it all to himself in five separate transactions over an eight day period.
During interviews Reddick admitted that he had taken monies “to fulfil promises to clients…and to bolster his business” and while he claimed he always intended to pay it back, he conceded that “he did not have any plan in place” as to just how he would do that.
He also admitted that he had produced falsified bank statements in order to cover up his fraudulent behaviour and Judge McColgan said that globally, taking account of the loan, interest and loan repayments made by Riddick, the overall money he swindled was £390,571.
She said it as to his credit that Reddick had taken steps to pay all of that money back and it was also mitigation that he had a clear record and had entered guilty pleas.
Judge McColgan did however add that “faced with the evidence he had very little option other than to plead guilty” and although the pre-sentence report said the offending was “totally out of character,” she added Reddick had managed to act “out of character for a period of ten years.”
Speaking after Reddick was jailed, Detective Inspector McCartan commented: “Donations from the congregation, hard-working people, were used to prop up Reddick’s accountancy business. Reddick later paid back the money in full; however we should not underestimate the impact of his offending on those who put their faith in him.
“We would encourage the public to come forward if they believe that they may have been the victim of a similar crime. We will listen to you and take your concerns seriously.”
A report can be made by calling the non-emergency number 101, or online at psni.police.uk/report.