**Repeat Fraudster Jailed After Stealing £140,000 from Welsh Employer**
A former finance manager with a history of theft has been sentenced to more than two and a half years in prison after embezzling £140,000 from her latest employer, years after a previous conviction for a similar crime. Victoria Mary King, also known by her previous name Vikki Phillips, orchestrated a sophisticated fraud while working for a Rhondda Cynon Taf-based company, Eftech Ltd, which supplies adhesives and sealants to the automotive sector.
King, 56, who had joined Eftech in July 2021 on a £45,000 yearly salary, systematically pocketed thousands each month by authorising payments into an account she controlled under a name nearly identical to a legitimate supplier. Despite being entrusted with the firm’s financial responsibilities, she exploited her position and knowledge of company processes for personal gain.
During her employment, King managed to pay herself an extra £7,500 each month, transferring money on twenty-one occasions between October 2021 and July 2023. Her fraud only came to light after she resigned in April 2023, prompting Eftech to conduct a review as it transitioned its Welsh office’s finances to its Belgian headquarters.
The financial review quickly revealed discrepancies between invoices and payments, raising alarm bells among management. An internal investigation followed, with the director of the Rhigos branch uncovering the fraudulent payments made to the fake supplier account that was, in fact, under King’s control. The total sum missing stood at £140,197.
When authorities questioned King, she exercised her right to silence, refusing to comment on the allegations. Her actions, described as “despicable” by her former manager, have severely damaged trust within the previously close-knit company, whose workforce is reputedly drawn from local families with generations of service.
Shockingly, this was not King’s first offence. Back in 2014, under her former name Vikki Phillips, she was imprisoned for stealing £130,000 from a Cardiff-based women’s charity, which ultimately had to close due to the scale of her theft. On that occasion, she used her position to forge false invoices and directors’ signatures, siphoning off charity funds into her own account. Even after her conviction, she continued her deception by forging glowing references from her victimised employer to secure new finance roles, and she failed to disclose her criminal record when applying for subsequent positions.
In mitigation, King’s barrister, Emily Jermin, noted that there was no obvious explanation for her behaviour, but said the defendant herself spoke of an ‘addiction or compulsion’ to steal. Jermin added that King was taking responsibility and making efforts to repay her debt to society by volunteering with a charity, while also managing caring responsibilities.
However, Judge Jeremy Jenkins, sentencing at Merthyr Crown Court, was unmoved by pleas for leniency. He lambasted King for “systematically stealing from her employer from the very beginning to the very end” of her time at Eftech, and described her fraud as a “gross breach of trust conducted over a significant period of time”. Notably, King has never revealed what happened to the money in either case.
Taking into account her early guilty plea, the judge sentenced King to 32 months in prison, of which she will serve up to half before being released on licence. The court also confirmed that King’s finances will now be subject to an investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act, with the aim of recovering as much of the stolen funds as possible.
This case serves as a stark reminder of the devastating consequences that white-collar crime can inflict not only on businesses and charities, but also on wider communities. King’s actions not only led to the collapse of a charitable organisation but also shredded the hard-won trust within her latest workplace.
Authorities have yet to release a custody image of King, and it remains unclear whether her current employer was aware of her appearance in court. As investigators press on with efforts to trace the missing money, this high-profile conviction underscores the vital importance of rigorous checks and transparency in all areas of financial management.