A FORMER manager at Jersey Mutual stole more than £4.5 million from the company over a decade while he worked there, the Royal Court has found – but only a fraction of this sum will be recovered.
Roy Anthony Jeanne (73) – who is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence for his crimes against Jersey Mutual – has been ordered to pay £510,000 by the court.
Meanwhile, his associate, Michael John Timms (74), was ordered to pay £144,000.
Jeanne held the top role at Jersey Mutual, while Timms was a commercial tenant of the insurance company.
As Jersey Mutual’s long-term supplier of marketing services, Timms helped Jeanne defraud the insurance company by falsifying invoices in return for lucrative contracts with the firm.
It was thought that Jeanne stole in excess of £3.4m from Jersey Mutual, while Timms received £160,000 for his role.
After their sentencing in January, a confiscation order was sought by the Crown and a hearing set for April.
However, following a hearing in the Royal Court, it has now been determined that Jeanne alone benefited by more than £4.5m from his crimes but that the actual amount able to be confiscated was £510,000.
He will serve an additional three and a half years in prison if he does not pay.
Meanwhile, Timms was found to have benefited by £144,870 and was ordered to pay back the full amount. He will serve an additional two years in prison if he does not pay. Timms was also ordered to pay £10,000 in costs.
Both defendants were given 12 months to pay.
At his sentencing this year, Jeanne was described as “a lifelong and avid gambler” who used the fraudulent funds to support this habit. He also used the money stolen from Jersey Mutual to pay off the mortgage on his Spanish villa, Casa Jeannie.
Meanwhile, Timms used his share to maintain the lifestyle he had become accustomed to.
The sentencing of Jeanne and Timms followed a lengthy and complex financial crime investigation named Operation Lavender, which was launched in 2018.
Jeanne was eventually charged with, and pleaded guilty to, three counts of larceny servant, falsification of accounts, money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud.
Timms was charged with, and pleaded guilty to, two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud.
Following the confiscation hearing, Detective Inspector Quenault, of the Joint Financial Crime Unit, commented: “These confiscation orders reflect the seriousness of the offending and the States of Jersey Police, The Law Officers’ Department and the courts are committed to ensuring that in addition to lengthy custodial sentences, illicit criminal gains will be identified and confiscated from those that seek to benefit from the loss of others.”
