A council official set up his own fictitious company and invoiced the authority which cheques into it.

A court heard  how the fraud led to a loss of £11,135 for Flintshire County Council.

Steven John Williams, of  Butterbache Road, Huntington, Chester, had also been paid a cheque and cash by a contractor who lost £8,500.

The 41-year-old was at the time the council’s empty homes development officer and had been with the authority for 23 years.

But an investigation showed a cheque had been paid to MPW Services, which was not on its selected list of companies used by the authority.

It turned out to be a fictitious company set up by Williams – he opened a bank account in that name and submitted four invoices through the county council for which he had received payment.

He also admitted he had received a cheque from a witness for £8,200 and a cash payment of £325, and £95 from another client.

Williams admitted three charges of fraud while in a position of trust and asked for four others to be taken into consideration.

On Monday (August 5) Flintshire magistrates, sitting at Mold, declined jurisdiction and sent the case to Mold Crown Court for sentence.

He pleaded guilty to fraud in February this year by obtaining £2,875 from the council by deception, and £7,300 from the authority between March and May.

The defendant also admitted an £8,200 fraud against prosecution witness Gareth Okell.

Patrick Williamson, defending, told the court all the money had been repaid. Williams, a man effectively of good character, was under the care of a psychologist and a report would be prepared for the court.

The offences seemed to have stemmed from alcoholism which was sparked off by a number of persona, historic problems.

A pre-sentence report would also give the court a full and accurate picture of the motivation “for these rather bizarre offences”, he explained.

Prosecutor Justin Espie said that the defendant, who had been employed by the authority for 23 years, was the empty homes development officer.

On April 13 this year he was suspended from his job for internal matters and another employee stepped into the role.

When that employee spoke to some of the defendant’s clients he became suspicious and enquiries were made.

It transpired that a witness in the case had paid a cheque for £8,200 to a company named MPW Services at the request of the defendant and had been handed directly to him.

The council set up an internal investigation and they could not find a company of such a name and it was not a contractor on the list of companies used by the authority.

On July 19 the council received a letter from the defendant in which he said MPW Services was a fictitious company.

He had set up a bank account in that name and had submitted four invoices through the council for which he received payment.

Williams admitted receiving a £8,200 cheque from the witness and confirmed that he had received another £325 cash payment, and £95 from another client.

The work, that the cash was for, was carried out by contractors used by the council.

He said that the total loss to Flintshire County Council was £11,135 and the loss to the witness was £8,505.

It was a therefore fraud in the region of £19,000 which should be dealt with at the crown court.

They were multiple frauds over a period of time and a significant breach of trust in view of his position within the authority, he said.

Williams – whose only previous conviction was a charge of being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle - was bailed to be sentenced at the end of the month.