Construction Boss Jailed For Stealing £700K for Casino Play

A construction boss in England has been arrested and jailed after fraudulently taking more than £700,000 (about $890,000) from companies to fund his gambling addiction. 

According to The Insolvency Service, Wesley Grainger-Smith transferred £702,050 from four firms to his accounts between 2014 and 2017. 

The Bosses Sentencing

This past Friday, Grainger-Smith, 66, of Winthorpe, Nottinghamshire, was sentenced to two years and four months in prison at Lincoln Crown Court. 

He admitted to five counts of removing company property. 

His Role With the Companies 

Grainger-Smith wasn’t a director of any of the companies. However, he acted as such in a consulting role. He would influence official directors and would withdraw money. The directors knew about it, per The Insolvency Service. 

Here are the companies he removed the money from and how much:

• Eagleport Ltd: £230,810
• Smiths Construction Ltd: £110,250
• Smiths Construction Services Ltd: £84,600
• Smiths Construction Specialists Ltd: £276,390

Reckless Gambling

According to The Insolvency Service, they discovered £570,000 was paid back to the companies. Grainger-Smith mentioned he repaid a good chunk of the money back with his winnings, but of course, he was still more than £130,000 short. 

Grainger-Smith declared bankruptcy in March 2017. He was banned from being a company director for five years after what happened with Eagleport. 

Then, in June 2019, he was banned for an additional 10 years after what happened with Smiths Construction Specialists. 

"Wesley Grainger-Smith cannot have thought he was entitled to recklessly gamble with company money or that he was acting in the best interests of the four companies where he said he acted as a consultant,” said Insolvency Service chief investigator Mark Stephens.