Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
The fraud case against builders merchant Jewson’s former sales and marketing director collapsed earlier this month.
Tony Newman was accused of conspiracy to defraud his former employer of nearly £1m in 2008.
However, acting on his behalf Mark Wall QC and Tim Hannam secured his acquittal by claiming an abuse of process argument which alleged a “wholesale failure in disclosure and investigation” on the part of the police, the CPS and Jewson itself,
The Crown decided in the face of the argument to offer no evidence against him.
Jewson have decided not to comment further on the matter.
Newman was arrested in April 2008, along with one other Jewson employee, thanks to a tip-off by an anonymous whistle-blower at the Saint-Gobain Building Distribution company, which led to an internal audit process.
The allegations related to invoices sent between Jewson and other businesses.
In December 2008, a spokesperson for parent company Saint Gobain said: “We can confirm that following an investigation by our internal audit department Tony Newman was dismissed from his role as sales director. In addition, one other person, who had been employed by Jewson for less than two weeks, has been dismissed as a result of our internal investigation.
“This matter, which relates to the fraudulent supply and procurement of marketing services, has now been passed to the police who are conducting a detailed investigation with our full co-operation and support. We can categorically state that no customers are or have been in any way involved with this matter.”
