Rita Ora's company suffered a £2.4M loss over the past seven years and it's not because business wasn't booming. Her former accountant, Andrew Munday, has been convicted after committing a £3.35m fraud.
Andrew Munday used the money he defrauded from Ora to purchase himself Star Wars memorabilia, houses as well as a membership at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Munday also had another high profile client, England rugby captain Matt Dawson, whose company was defrauded £1.08 by the accountant.
The prosecutor on the case, Simon Davis, said that that the first instance that they spotted fraud was by Munday's employers on Ora's company which Davis said was the "tip of the iceberg."
Judge Rupert Mayo told Northampton Crown Court during Munday's conviction, "The individuals who trusted you with their bank sign-in details and therefore trusted you with their hard-earned wealth have been emotionally harmed by the abuse of trust which you perpetrated."
Munday was accused of using the money he siphoned from clients to fund his habits and a "lavish lifestyle." He's reportedly made efforts to pay back the clients he defrauded but he's come up £710,000 short. He has paid back a bit of back money to his clients. His attorney, Nigel Edwards QC. said that Munday's addiction to gambling was a "principal driver" for committing these crimes.
"He offers sincere apologies to all those who he defrauded," he said.
