Izodia director jailed for eight years over false accounting
Gerald Smith heads for the slammer after misappropriating £34m
The Cambridge Crown Court has sentenced former Izodia director Gerald Smith
to eight years in jail for false accounting and misappropriating £34m of the IT
company’s funds.
Smith, who was also suspended from acting as company director for 15 years,
pleaded guilty in April this year.
Izodia traded as a software company during the dot-com boom, the SFO said
today, but become a cash shell when the dot-com bubble burst. In 2002 Smith, 51,
used his Jersey-based property business to buy a substantial stake in Izodia and
exert control over the business.
He proceeded to use his influence to transfer Izodia’s main cash asset from a
Royal Bank of Scotland account in reading to Jersey, where he proceeded to steal
it.
The Thames Valley Police and The SFO began an investigation of the case in
2002 and charged Smith in February 2005.
Proceedings were also commenced against two other defendants, Jarlath Vahey
and Peter Catto, ex-directors of Izodia.
Smith pleaded guilty to ten counts of theft and to one count of false
accounting.
