A “thoroughly dishonest” employee stole more than £90,000 from customers to fund his gambling addiction. James Davies was working for Cardiff-based financial services firm Anna Money when he defrauded 36 clients.
The 37-year-old was sentenced in 2023 to an 11-year jail term for a series of offences including two rapes. He appeared at Swansea Crown Court having admitted another crime – fraud by abuse of position – which occurred before he was imprisoned. The fraud spanned just under a month starting in October 2020 and saw customer service operator Davies defraud 36 customers of a total of £91,071.
Judge Huw Rees told Davies: “You are a thoroughly dishonest man. You prioritised your preoccupation with gambling over the requirements of your unsuspecting and trusting customers of what was an institution effectively serving as a bank.” Anna, also known as Absolutely No Nonsense Admin, says on its website that it “helps creative small businesses and start-ups with their financial admin” and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
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Last July Davies was jailed for 11 years after admitting two counts of rape, two counts of actual bodily harm, assault by penetration, and possession of cocaine. The court heard he told lies to a woman and pretended he had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) before punching her in the face and sexually assaulting her in Swansea’s Grand Hotel.
In the latest hearing Davies, of Bridgend’s Parc prison, was represented by Vaughan Britton, who said his client’s “family unit has completely disintegrated” but that he has been “trying his best in the prison environment to address the issues that led to his offending”. Judge Rees took into account the delay in Davies being sentenced for the fraud. The judge imposed a jail term of 16 months which will be served consecutively to the sentence he is already serving.
We previously reported on the attack in which Davies went to the Grand Hotel with a woman in 2022. They had consensual sex but the victim fell asleep and woke to see Davies, who had taken cocaine that evening, pacing the floor aggressively. He told the victim he had served in the RAF and had witnessed a friend being blown up in front of him resulting in him suffering from PTSD. These claims turned out to be lies, the court heard.
Davies then punched the victim to the face and made threats while making her perform an oral sex act on him, ignoring her protests for him to stop. The court heard he also urinated on her. Police attended the hotel and spoke to the victim who was taken to Morriston Hospital for treatment for injuries including a swollen face, eye, and jaw. Speaking last July Judge Geraint Walters described Davies’ actions as “nothing less than psychotic” and “terrifying”. Davies must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and was handed a lifelong restraining order as well as the 11-year jail term.