Former JW Lees manager charged for £350,000 fraud

02-Jul-2014 - Last updated on 03-Jul-2014 at 15:04 GMT

JW Lees said the fraud had been 'going on for over five years'

The former manager of a JW Lees pub has been charged with fraud after the brewer found that over £350,000 had gone missing from one of its West Yorkshire pubs.

Paul Kempster was charged with false accounting and fraud by abusive position – behaviour which the pub company says has been “going on for over five years” – following the discovery last year that £350,000 had gone missing from the Huntsman in Holmfirth.

Kempster appeared before Huddersfield magistrates yesterday but, according to local newswire Huddersfield Daily Examiner, the case has been transferred to Leeds Crown Court, where Kempster will first appear on 16 July. It added that Kempster gave no indication of plea to the charges.

A spokesperson for JW Lees said: “We take all allegations of crime seriously and will always take appropriate action against those it concerns. We would like to thank West Yorkshire Police and the CPS for their work which has led to the case being progressed to this stage.”

West Yorkshire Police said it does not comment on active cases.