Lottery boss jailed for keeping £285,000 of Sheffield Hospitals Charity money for himself

Simon Rydings, who ran a lottery on the charity’s behalf, has been jailed for three months and ordered to pay compensation.

Over the last five years, Sheffield Hospitals Charity has run a lottery and raised £3.2million to help support the costs of specialist equipment, pioneering research and patient support services at hospitals in Sheffield including Northern General, Hallamshire and Jessop Wing.

However, last year the charity did not receive £285,000 worth of funds it was owed. Instead, the corrupt businessman running the sheme on the charity’s behalf pocketed the cash and used it for other purposes.

Birmingham Magistrates’ Court heard how Simon Rydings, 50, of Edinburgh, failed to pass on £285,000 of lottery proceeds to the charity while he was chief executive officer of Capen Limited – the firm which ran the charity’s lottery scheme.

Rydings admitted misusing lottery proceeds (under the 2005 Gambling Act) between January 1, 2018 and March 31, 2020.

He told the court he had spent all the money on other costs running the business and that he did not have the funds to return all £285,000.

He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison and ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to Sheffield Hospitals Charity within 18 months of leaving prison.

Gareth Aston, CEO of Sheffield Hospitals Charity, said: “We are deeply upset and saddened by the events which have taken place. As a charity, our biggest responsibility and priority is to assist our beneficiaries, and we rely on the wonderful supporters of the charity to be able to achieve that.

"We welcome the outcome of the case and we will do everything within our power to recover the outstanding funds.

“Sheffield Hospitals Charity has taken extensive measures to ensure this can never happen again. We are a victim of this crime and hope that lessons can be learned from our experiences to ensure that no one else has to suffer in the same way.”

Helen Venn, Gambling Commission executive director, added: “Lotteries in this country can only be run for good causes – charities and other non-commercial organisations who run lotteries rely heavily on the income they receive from lotteries to support the important work they do.

“Simon Rydings completely failed as the CEO of a company with a Gambling Commission licence (ELM) and is now paying the price.”

Rydings’ fraud did not affect any of the lottery players (or payment of any prizes). It only affected the revenue generated for the charity.

Since the fraud took place, Sheffield Hospitals Charity has carried out a review of its processes and more stringent security measures have been put in place concerning the handling of funds.

All sums generated by the lottery are now paid directly to Sheffield Hospitals Charity by the collection company, and Sheffield Hospitals Charity says it is confident that there is no prospect of any such fraud being perpetrated against it in the future.

The charity no longer works with or has links to Capen Ltd and directors.