Fraudster Norma Smyth given 6 months to pay £132k or be jailed

A fraudster jailed for her “insatiable greed” in stealing more than £450,000 from a car dealership is to pay back just over £132,000 a judge has ordered. Ordering Norma Smyth to pay £132,047 in compensation to Edwin May Ltd, Judge Alistair Devlin allowed the 48-year-old six months to pay and prosecuting counsel Suzanne Gallagher reminded the court that if Smyth failed to pay, “she is liable to serve up to five years imprisonment.” “That’s the maximum sentence but if the court feels that is not appropriate that can be amended,” said the barrister.

The confiscation proceedings on Tuesday at Antrim Crown Court arise after Smyth abused her position of trust within Edwin May Ltd to steal the “colossal amount” of £452,787 over more than a decade. Smyth remains in custody and was not produced to the court as the criminal case finally concluded.

Four months ago mother-of-three Smyth was handed a three-year sentence, half to be spent in jail and half under supervised licence conditions, after she admitted abusing and exploiting her position of “absolute” trust in Edwin May Ltd. Jailing Smyth last July, Judge Devlin said it was clear that “realistically, it would not have been possible for this level of misappropriation and theft to have gone on, and gone on undetected for as long as it did and for so many years” without the defendant being in the position she was and exploiting it for her own ends. Despite stealing and defrauding the car sales company of more than £3,000 every month for 11 and a half years, the judge revealed Smyth had even asked her manager for a pay rise in the midst of her “not unsophisticated frauds,” a step which he said “demonstrates your insatiable level of greed.”

He further revealed that unlike other fraud offences, there was nothing in Smyth’s life such as drug or alcohol addiction, gambling debts, or mental health issues to motivate or necessitate stealing such “vast amounts” of cash. Judge Devlin told the fraudster, who showed little to no emotion as she was jailed, while he noted “with some concern” that her children had been affected, “however, and most regrettably, there maybe be something of an inevitably in that” given the fact that Smyth had “for many years, chose to live effectively a double life.” “A hard working and no doubt devoted wife, mother, home maker and church goer on the one hand but who was unfortunately at the same time, unknown to anyone, a skilled, persistent and accomplished fraudster and thief and who had only in December 2019 had the true extent of that double life revealed,” said the judge. On charges spanning from 1 February 2008 to 6 November 2019 Smith, from the Duncrun Road in Limavady, admitted stealing a mammoth £437,824 from Edwin May Ltd and also that she abused her position of trust within the car dealership by accessing company accounts to apply company funds to the value of £14,962 “in settlement of your personal invoices and car finance repayments.” The court heard how Smyth, who at the time was the site administrator, transferred credits and bonuses to accounts where customers’ cash payments were lodged and the fraudster would then withdraw the cash. In another method which related to the second count, the court heard “there were a number of vehicles purchased from Edwin May in the name of Mrs Smyth or her husband” but the defendant abused her position of trust in that “records show that a significant amount of the account for each vehicle was paid for by transferring money from the Road Tax refund account.” Again because of her trusted position within the company, Smyth was able to hide her tracks in a number of different ways and Ms Gallagher told the judge that in short, the disgraced thief misrepresented lodgements. While Smyth had stolen more than £450,000, in court today, Ms Gallagher said given the realisable assets the prosecution and defence counsel Barry Gibson had agreed on the figure of £132,047. Mr Gibson said now there was an agreed figure before the court, the defence would now have to go to the High Court to release funds in bank accounts which had been frozen during the investigation. As a result of the marital home being remortgaged, £118,000 was held in one such account, said the barrister and Judge Devlin concluded the case by granting the compensation order in favour of Edwin May Ltd.

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