Northampton care home manager jailed after stealing £250,000 from residents to pay off gambling debts

Benjamin Howard, of Breach Close, Brixworth, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on August 21, after pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position.

Between September 2017 and August 2020, while in charge of five care facilities in the county, the 35-year-old laundered funds through interbank transfers via his own five personal accounts and that of service users, according to Northamptonshire Police.

Using service users’ bank cards held at the care facility, he used them to withdraw money from ATMs as well pretended to be them to access and make changes to their accounts to switch to telephone/internet banking and to redirect bank statements to his home address. He also created bogus trips and events to collect funds.

Howard’s offending was discovered after a service user requested access to their funds, which prompted him to resign and on September 20, 2020 Howard was arrested after he handed himself into police.

According to police, Howard showed remorse during his interview and told officers that he regretted his actions and claimed that he had a gambling addiction and had stolen the money to pay off his debts which had spiralled out of control.

He also admitted to stealing funds to the value of £30,000 to £40,000 however, during the investigation it was discovered that the true figure was £250,201.93. Most of the victims have been issued with a refund from their banks, however these have not been for the full amount.

Detective Constable Emma England of the force’s Economic Crime Team said: “Benjamin Howard was placed into a position of trust which he betrayed and instead of safeguarding his victims, he took full advantage of their vulnerabilities.

“In his own admission, he stole the money to fund his gambling and pay off his debts which had spiralled out of control. Although he was remorseful, we hope he uses his time in prison to not only reflect on his actions but to receive support for his addiction.”

Howard was sentenced to three years and four months in prison