Richard Lewis was described as “a hard-working employee” and was promoted to store manager at The Food Warehouse in Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire, after being at the company for more than 12 years.
However, prosecutor Caitlin Brazel told Swansea Crown Court that Lewis “found himself in crippling financial debt” in the summer of 2021 due to his gambling addiction.
Ms Brazel said Lewis used his position as store manager to falsify what appeared to be legitimate financial expenses and pocket the cash himself.
In September of that year, Lewis also began working at the company’s Barry store – where he deployed the same tactics, as well as “approving unauthorised transactions”, and “blatantly taking money from…
