The sentence of a businessman who defrauded a government agency of over £200,000 has been adjourned for his wife and co-defendant to give evidence about her role.
Andrew Rendell-Read, 61, of Weston Hills,had denied two fraud offences but was convicted of both charges after a two week trial at Lincoln Crown Court in March.
Mr Rendell-Read was due to be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on July 3 alongside his wife and business partner, Catherine McGreggor, who had already entered a guilty plea to her role in the fraud.
However a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court was told McGreggor, also 61 and of Weston Hills, would have to give evidence before the judge who presided over the trial of her husband after the basis of her guilty plea was submitted to the court.
In her basis of plea McGreggor maintained the project was not false from the start and stated she made no personal gain with money reinvested into the company, the court heard.
The trial judge, Catarina Sjolin Knight adjourned the sentence of both defendants for McGreggor to give evidence on the issues during a two hour Newton Hearing.
Both defendants will be sentenced at the conclusion of that hearing which will be heard on a date to be fixed later this year.
Judge Sjolin Knight told the couple, who remain on bail: “You will come up for sentence later this year.”
Jurors heard during the trial how Rendell-Read, of Broadgate, Weston Hills, made false expenses claims relating to the Government agency Innovate UK between 3 December 2015 and 11 September 2018.
The jury decided Rendell-Read also abused his position as a director of VBC Instrument Engineering by transferring funds from business expenses between 10 February 2016 and 18 April 2019.
Prosecutors said Rendell-Read extracted £243,000 from Innovate UK in a joint fraud operated with his wife and business partner, Catherine McGreggor.
The vehicle for the fraud was a Wellingborough based engineering company, VBC Instrument Engineering (VBC), of which the couple were both directors.
Jurors heard the ‘husband and wife’ team defrauded Innovate UK during a funding project related to the automated manufacture of aerospace blades.
As part of the project Innovate UK reimbursed 41 per cent of the costs incurred by VBC, the court heard.
Matthew Moore-Taylor, prosecuting, said the fraud simply operated by VBC inflating the costs of the project in two ways through quarterly submissions.
“The first is false invoices,” Mr Moore-Taylor told the jury. “The second was ghost employees.”
Jurors heard the ‘ghost employees’ were in fact real people in the form of McGreggor’s niece and daughter.
Mr Moore-Taylor said McGreggor’s two relatives did not benefit from the funding received from Innovate UK and were instructed to pay the money into a joint account she shared with her husband.
At the end of the prosecution case Rendell-Read chose not to go into the witness box to give evidence in his defence.
The jury heard Rendell-Read had been assessed by a psychologist and was found to have dyslexia.
But during a series of police interviews Rendell-Read denied he was responsible for making payments or submitting any of the invoices.
“I had no idea this was going on,” Rendell-Read insisted.
The court heard police found a Rolex watch and four cars including a Maserati during a search of Rendell-Read’s home.
