By A woman who admitted stealing over £1.7 million from the company she worked for has been sentenced to five years in prison for fraud, following her appearance in Grimsby Crown Court on Friday 26 February.
Lisa Crawshaw, 45, from Gainsborough admitting to stealing the money in order to fund her luxurious lifestyle, numerous expensive horses and equestrian equipment.
The owners of the company discovered the theft, which had been ongoing for approximately five years, when they started to receive debt collecting letters following the sale of the company.
DS Ben Robinson from Humberside Police Economic Crime Unit said: “Fraud can be an extremely distressing offence to become a victim of, especially when the level of offending is of the magnitude in this case.
“It is clear that Lisa Crawshaw had no regard for her employers and instead defrauded them to fund her own luxuries.
“With a habit of buying horses ‘more addictive than drugs’, as said in her own words, Miss Crawshaw not only destroyed a successful North Lincolnshire business, she also destroyed the owners’ years of dedication and future financial security.
“Investigators from our asset recovery team continue to make enquiries into any assets that have been gained as a result of Lisa Crawshaw’s criminality.
“She will now have the next few years in prison to reflect on her actions, and I do hope this goes some way to bringing the victims a sense of closure.
“We are committed to tackling fraud of any scale, and would encourage anyone who believes they have been a victim of fraud to report it through Action Fraud: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/.”
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