Couple deny any part in £370k company fraud

Matthew Farrimond, formerly of Standish Lower Ground but now of Kirkby Close, Buckshaw Village in Preston, faces 13 charges of fraud by abuse of position.

It is alleged that the 40-year-old siphoned off the money while working for Bolton builder Herbert T Forrest.

He this week made his first appearance before a Bolton Crown Court Court judge and pleaded not guilty to all the allegations againt him.

Alongside him in the dock was his partner 35-year-old Kirsty Holt, also of Kirkby Close, Buckshaw Village, who faces a single charge of money-laundering.

She too entered a not guilty plea.

Both were remanded on bail.

A provisional date for the couple’s trial was set for April 30 next year.

Farrimond was arrested earlier this year by Greater Manchester Police investigating the alleged disappearance of large quantities of cash from the building firm’s accounts.

Holt was then arrested as the inquiry continued and they later both appeared before Bolton magistrates who sent them to crown court.

Forrest, which provides essential refurbishment and responsive maintenance services to the social housing market across the North of England, has made redundancies as part of a restructuring this year.