Gambling addict who committed £19m fraud has just £600,000 assets left

AN IT manager who defrauded his employer out of almost £19m to fund his chronic gambling addiction has just £600,000 worth of assets left.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Mar 2014, 23:11 BST

Jonathan Revill is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence for stealing the money from GDF SUEZ, one of the world’s largest companies. Revill, 38, worked as a service delivery systems manager at the energy company’s subsidiary business, GDF Suez Energy, based in Leeds, when he carried out the scam.

Revill was returned to Leeds Crown Court yesterday to face a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The court heard his benefit from the offending was £18,976,602. Mehran Nassiri, prosecuting, said Revill had just £608,909 available.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Most of that figure is made up from the value of his home, worth £515,000, and £21,000 worth of investments.

Judge Christopher Batty ordered Revill to pay the sum 
within six months of face a further prison sentence of up to four years.

Revill made a profit of £5.6m from the deception and blew most of it betting online.

He was able to pay cash for his home in Marsh Lane, Huddersfield, and would gamble as much as £300,000 on a single sporting fixture.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Even after his arrest, Revill accessed more than £20,000 from his betting account and lost it all in one evening.

His wife and child knew nothing of his secret addiction until he was arrested.

Revill pleaded guilty to four offences of fraud and one of transferring criminal property.

His annual salary was £55,000 plus bonuses.

He faked signatures to order more than £18,9m worth of computer equipment from a supplier over a three-year period.

He then sold it on to other companies or through eBay.

Describing his gambling addiction to the court, Revill’s barrister Benjamin Hargreaves said: 
“Winning or losing didn’t 
matter.