Abbey to sue companies involved in 1.2m fraud

Abbey National is to pursue a civil action against four marketing services companies whose directors were sentenced last week for fraud alongside the bank’s former marketing director Michael Doyle.

Doyle was jailed for eight years last Friday for his leading role in operating a 1.2m fraud against the bank. The fraud involved false invoicing by agencies for which he received kick-backs of over 250,000. He was ordered to pay 226,430 compensation to the bank.

Stuart Nicholson, director of Fix Focus, was jailed for five years, disqualified from acting as a company director for eight years, and ordered to pay 37,375 in compensation.

Steven Bracken, a director of ASB Consulting, was jailed for four years and ordered to pay 25,634.

Guy Hewitt and Robert Taylor, both directors of NRG Communications, were jailed for three years.

Ian Zak and Timothy Spillane, both directors of the Business Development Partnership, were jailed for three and two years respectively.

Doyle’s brother James was jailed for 18 months for the part he played in laundering money. He has been ordered to pay 37,000 back to Abbey National or face an additional term in jail.

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