Curve head of finance jailed for stealing 'breath-taking' sum from theatre

The former head of finance at the Curve theatre has been jailed for four years and 10 months for stealing more than £868,800 from the theatre, which is a registered charity.

After her arrest, Karen McGowan, 50, blamed colleagues who worked alongside her for taking the money and also suggested a "dark web attack" on the theatre could be responsible.But really she had simply been sending money - in sums of up to about £28,000 - into her 57-year-old husband Graham McGowan's bank account.

Most of the money was gambled away and used to pay Karen McGowan's gambling debts.She and her husband, both of Harlequin Road, Sileby, near Loughborough, appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Friday.

Her husband was given a 23-month sentence suspended for two years.

Those in the public gallery at the hearing included the theatre's chief executive Chris Stafford and a female member of the finance team who had been questioned under caution after Karen McGowan redirected the blame towards her.

Mr Stafford read out a statement from the witness box about the shock and sadness, as well as the financial impact, caused by the couple's actions.He said: "Members of the team - good, honest people - had to be interviewed by the police.

"Karen raised a number of false claims about how the fraud might have happened, including as part of a dark web attack on the Curve's system."He said staff were breaking down in tears in his office after the news emerged Karen McGowan had been charged.

He added: "Karen was only ever treated with kindness and respect."Karen knew exactly what she was doing and would have known the impact her actions would have on the theatre, our finances and the people she worked with on a daily basis."

He said his staff were also very upset at being witnesses in the trial.

The first trial was due to happen in June 2021 but there were numerous delays due to the post-Covid backlog in the court system, leading to further trial dates in January 2022, November 2022 and March 2023 that never happened.Two weeks before the March 2023 trial date, Karen McGowan changed her pleas to guilty.

Graham McGowan only pleaded guilty on the second day of his trial, which began on Monday (September 23) at Leicester Crown Court.

Karen McGowan had pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by abuse of position and one of money laundering and her husband admitted to one charge of money laundering.

Prosecutor Andrew Peet told the court the delays were entirely the couple's fault for failing to admit their guilt earlier.He said: "The delay has been caused entirely by the defendants - putting their heads in the sand or denying the charges outright."The court heard Karen McGowan got a job at the Curve finance department in October 2014, covering for a woman on maternity leave.

She got a permanent job the following year, earning £26,000 and was promoted to finance manager in October 2015, earning £30,000.In February 2019, she was made head of finance on a salary of £34,340. Her fraud was uncovered two months after that promotion.The theatre was alerted to the fraud by Graham McGowan's bank.

The joint investigation by the bank and the theatre discovered the 104 transactions from the Curve bank account to Graham McGowan's account over 17 months.In total, £868,804 was taken. The accounts showed increasing amounts being taken over time, with more than £140,000 being taken "in a matter of days" at the height of the fraud, Mr Peet said.

He added: "There are increases in frequency and increases in amounts because they don't get caught." The biggest single transfer was £28,454.Mr Peet described how Karen McGowan stayed for long hours at work each day and never took holidays to ensure she could "keep a lid on things" and avoid anyone else looking closely into the accounts.

He said she was a "micro-manager" who was "unwilling to delegate" and "controlled the department to prevent discovery of her dishonesty".He added: "The Curve is a charity. It exists on the goodwill of the public and the provision of public funds via the charity commission.

"She held a largely-unchecked position of trust within the charity."Saleema Mahmood, representing Karen McGowan, told the court her client started gambling - at first with scratch cards - to help make money at a point the couple were in a "dire" financial situation.

She said: "That, perhaps, was folly. She was believing a win could change their fortunes."She added: "This was no doubt a very forceful and gripping addiction that took over a woman who, up until her mid-40s, had been competent.

"All of that blown away by a clear, strong addiction to gambling."She claimed her client had been shocked when Leicestershire Police told her the full sum of the fraud.John Lucas, representing Graham McGowan, said his client was "pathetic" and "under his wife's control".

He added the couple met in the Territorial Army and his client had worked for BT as an engineer for 27 years.Mr Lucas continued: "This is a case of becoming compliant in something he did not instigate.

"Mr McGowan did not steal any money, he did not gamble any money. He had a humble lifestyle. He let it happen - he trusted her."He turned a blind eye to it because he loved his wife. Not a shred of that money affected him in terms of the quality of his life - that's why it's an extremely sad case."During Mr Lucas's speech, Karen McGowan began having a medical episode in the dock and her husband, sat beside her, was trying to help her control her breathing.

After lunch, Ms Mahmood told Judge Timothy Spencer KC: "There were concerns regarding the symptoms Mrs McGowan was exhibiting and she was taken to hospital."I asked if she wanted to be present for sentence being passed and she said she did not."

The judge agreed to sentence her in her absence, adding later that he believed her "panic attack" was genuine and "probably prompted by the deep shame" she felt having Mr Stafford and other members of the Curve team attending the sentencing hearing.

Passing his sentencing remarks, Judge Spencer said Karen McGowan had caused "huge damage" to the people who worked with her as well as stealing an "eye-watering" amount of money from a theatre that existed as a charity relying on its reputation.Commenting on the fraud, he added: "The modus operandi was relatively simple - not overly sophisticated and probably bound to be discovered."A proceeds of crime hearing is scheduled for March next year.

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