Man jailed for defrauding rugby refs and employer

The Norfolk Rugby Union Referees' Society (NRURS) discovered it had lost more than £80,000

A man has been jailed for defrauding a rugby society and a firm out of nearly £180,000 to fund a gambling addiction.

Trevor Lee, 56, of Elm Grove, Diss, Norfolk, pleading guilty to two counts of fraud by abuse of position at Norwich Crown Court.

Norfolk Police said the offences happened when he was a treasurer for the Norfolk Rugby Union Referees' Society (NRURS), and later as a director for Salire Ltd.

Lee was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

Police said between 2017 and 2019 Lee merged NRURS funds with his personal accounts, wrote false cheques to temporarily inflate the balance, and declared false balances at AGMs and to the Financial Conduct Authority.

He also sold stock owned by his employer Salire and had fraudulent invoices paid into his personal account, rather than the business's account.

The newly-elected chair of NRURS discovered the society's account balance was only 65p instead of the expected £24,000 and informed police.

It was later confirmed that Lee had stolen £80,095 from NRURS and £97,908 from Salire.

Police said Lee stated he used the funds to finance his gambling addiction.

He has since made efforts to repay some of the money taken from the rugby body.