Wigan man admits to fleecing firm out of £370k

A Wigan man has finally admitted to ripping off a company to the tune of £370,000.
Bolton Crown CourtBolton Crown Court
Bolton Crown Court

Matthew Farrimond was to have stood trial at Bolton Crown Court earlier this month, having denied 13 counts of fraud by abuse of position.

Other news: Thai boxer from Wigan jailed for attacks on former partnerBut days before the jury was due to be sworn in, he appeared in the dock to change his pleas to guilty.

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Farrimond will now be sentenced by a judge at the same court this Monday.

However, his 35-year-old partner Kirsty Holt walked free after the prosecution offered no evidence over a single charge of money laundering in connection with the same inquiry.

The pair were arrested during Greater Manchester Police fraud specialist investigations into the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of pounds from the accounts of Bolton building firm Herbert T Forrest.

Farrimond, formerly of Standish Lower Ground but more recently of Kirkby Close, Buckshaw Village in Chorley, had been working for the company and was identified as the likely suspect for siphoning off the cash.

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The 40-year-old had at first vigorously denied responsibility for fleecing the firm which provides essential refurbishment and responsive maintenance services to the social housing market across the North of England.

His partner, who has the same Buckshaw Village address, had also denied her role in the fraud but is now a free woman.

Herbert T Forrest, based in Dodd Lane, Westhoughton, was forced to make redundancies as part of a restructuring operation earlier this year.