Husband of theatre worker who stole £800,000 'helped launder cash', court hears

Karen McGowan stole hundreds of thousands over 17 months while working for Leicester's Curve Theatre's finance department, as her husband Graham stands trial for money laundering

The husband of a theatre worker who pilfered more than £800,000 into his account frittering it on scratch cards and bingo helped her launder her ill-gotten gains, a court was told.

Graham McGowan is accused of money laundering after wife Karen stole hundreds of thousands from Leicester's Curve theatre while working in its finance department over a 17-month period. She has admitted siphoning off £868,000 in that time, with much of it spent on her "chronic" gambling habit.

Her first offending took place in December 2017 when she moved £2,560 from Curve's account to Graham McGowan's. He has been charged with one count of money laundering in relation to the fraud, but denies any knowledge the money was stolen - a claim prosecutors argued was "not credible".

Leicester crown court heard that most of the stolen funds - £650,000 - was then transferred to Karen McGowan's account, but the rest was spent directly from her husband's. Her stealing continued until April 2019 when she was discovered and sacked.

Prosecutor Andrew Peet told the court on Tuesday how Karen "abused her position within the finance department" in that time, Leicestershire Live reports. "After Mr McGowan's bank account received those transfers, the money was transferred out again, usually into Karen McGowan's bank account," he told the jury at the case's opening.

Commenting on why the money was stolen by Karen McGowan, from Sileby, near Loughborough, Mr Peet told the jury she was a "bad gambler" in "both senses" of the term. He said: "She was a chronic gambler and, secondly, she wasn't very good at it. She lost a lot - over £100,000 was transferred from this defendant's bank account to betting companies." Mr Peet said Karen McGowan's living room was littered with "scores of scratchcards".

The jury heard that in the first transfer, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017, £2,560 was sent from Curve's Natwest bank account to Graham McGowan's bank account. The money was then transferred in stages, beginning that same day, to Karen McGowan's bank account.

Similar thefts by Karen McGowan continued until April 2019. The court heard that she had full access to her husband's account. Graham McGowan denies the charges against him and claims he did not know his wife was stealing from her employer.

Mr Peet however claimed it was "not credible" that he could have not been aware of "eye-watering" sums of money passing through his account, some of which he allegedly spent himself. The prosecutor told jurors: "The defendant's case is, 'my wife, ultimately, was a thief, and she put it through my bank account but I didn't know or suspect anything about it at all'."

Mr Peet said Graham McGowan was working as an engineer for British Telecom and claimed he would have noticed the stolen money, which was more than his income. He said: "You would notice £58,000 going through your bank account in a year if you earned £28,000. You'd likely faint, wouldn't you? Let alone be put on notice that something wasn't right."

He said Karen McGowan lost about £40,000 through Buzz Bingo, and other large sums through Paddy Power and Betfair. The barrister said she also spent money on the National Lottery, and that police searching the couple's home in April 2019 found the "living room floor strewn with scores or scratchcards".

Graham McGowan denies one count of money laundering. His wife has already pleaded guilty to money laundering and two counts of fraud and is on bail awaiting sentence following her husband's trial. The trial continues.