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The Animals' Shelter has spoken out about the £405,000 embezzlement by its former CEO that left the 150-year-old charity fighting to survive.
Former JSPCA head of a decade, Stephen John Coleman was sentenced yesterday to seven years behind bars for 19 criminal charges, including 15 counts of fraud against the charity.
The sentence comes around two years after an investigation by Express first revealed that the JSPCA was fighting tooth and claw to survive, saddling debts of around one million pounds.
At the time, it wasn't known that it was, in fact, Coleman's actions that had led to their "dire financial position".
Pictured: The JSPCA, which had debts close to one million in 2018 due to Coleman's actions, praised the Police, prosectors and its supporters.
Over the years, he artificially inflated his own salary from around £47,000 to over £110,000 and dipped into the charity's money pot - much of which comes from bequeathments in islanders' wills to small pocket money donations - to fund a luxury lifestyle.
This included the purchase dozens of guns, luxury cars, and yearly holidays at the five-star Ritz-Carlton hotel in Florida with his wife.
Now, the JSPCA Committee has spoken out for the first time since Coleman was sent to HM La Moye, where they said they hoped the ex-serviceman - whose "arrogance" was described as "remarkable" upon by Police - would spend time thinking about what he had done.
"Yesterday, Stephen Coleman was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment on 19 criminal charges, including 15 charges of fraud against the Society to which he has pleaded guilty. We would like to thank the police, prosecutors and the law officers for their tireless help and support throughout this time. We hope he uses his time in prison to reflect upon the damage he has caused. The impact of the whole affair has been explained to the Court in our detailed statement.
Coleman’s fraud left the Society in a dire financial position, burdened with debt and high interest payments. We never imagined that we would ever see the money that Stephen had misappropriated again. We are truly grateful to the Court for confiscating his assets in order to compensate the Society.
He stole from the generous animal lovers of Jersey, many of whom give donations they can barely afford, in order to finance his extravagant lifestyle and his actions have severely damaged the public’s trust in the charity.
The Society, which is registered and fully compliant with the Jersey Charity Commissioner, owes its survival to the people of Jersey who have continued, and indeed increased, their support over this very difficult time.
Coleman’s betrayal of Islanders is made worse by the fact that whilst defrauding the JSPCA he was not only a retired Major but also a serving Centenier purporting to command trust and respect.
In the last couple of years we have had to make challenging financial decisions, but have never compromised on our core charitable objective which is to provide care and shelter for the aged, sick, lost and unwanted animals of Jersey. These animals, and the wildlife of the Island, have been our priority for over 150 years and will remain so always."
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