A casino has been asked to hand over its books by the Crown as part of a bid to claw back £167,000 from a crooked former army Major from Fife.
Disgraced Major Timothy Grantham was described as a “thoroughly dishonest person” when he was convicted of stealing more than £150,000 from his elderly mother-in-law.
He has already been freed from prison, despite being sentenced to two years behind bars in May this year.
The retired officer blamed the crime on gambling debts and claimed he had lost the money in Dundee’s Grosvenor Casino.
However, the Crown is trying to establish how much money he won during his casino visits.
Grantham was at Dundee Sheriff Court to hear the latest stage of the Crown’s Proceeds of Crime case against him and the request for a casino to hand over its paperwork.
Forensic accountant call
Solicitor Gary McIlravey asked for the case to be continued and the next stage for the hearing was scheduled for spring.
Mr McIlravey said: “The action seeks a considerable sum.
“The sum being sought is £167,000, which is indicated to be the net figure available for recovery.
“I don’t think that is wholly accurate or takes the full situation into account.
“It will require a forensic accountant to address these substantial figures.”
Grantham, who fronted his own charitable organisation to provide days out for injured veterans, also acted as a Help for Heroes fundraising co-ordinator.
He was jailed for stealing £162,225 and blowing the majority of it in visits to a casino.
Thefts from frail mother-in-law
The court heard the largest sums were taken from Elizabeth McIntosh – who had dementia and alzheimer’s – shortly before she died in April 2019.
Grantham was filtering the frail pensioner’s savings and care home fees through a variety of bank accounts for more than three years as he gambled away large sums.
Her daughter Lesley McIntosh eventually walked into a police station and told officers her husband of 11 years had been stealing from her and her mother.
Grantham, 69, of Lundin Links, admitted stealing £162,225 in St Andrews between January 1, 2016 and February 14, 2019.
Fiscal depute Lynne Mannion said Grantham’s wife granted him access to her bank account as she trusted him to run the household finances.
Mrs McIntosh moved to St Andrews in 2013 and was diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer’s two years later so she moved into a care home in early 2016.
The vulnerable pensioner’s flat in St Andrews was sold for £141,500 and the money was to be used to cover her £3,640 per month care home fees.
By May 2018 the St Andrews House Care Home was receiving dud cheques and the couple were called in to make up the shortfall of more than £20,000.
Grantham wrote a cheque for £25,765 from the joint account, which was rejected by the bank.
Police called in
Lesley McIntosh’s sister made investigations and discrepancies in the handling of her mother’s accounts were discovered.
A police probe revealed Grantham had cleaned out the accounts.
On Valentine’s Day 2019, Mrs McIntosh told police her husband had been embezzling money and Grantham confessed to spending between £80,000 to £90,000 in Dundee’s Grosvenor Casino.
The court was told Grantham was in poor health and claimed to be suffering from lung cancer.
Sheriff Elizabeth MacFarlane said: “You are a thoroughly dishonest person.
“With the gambling motivation in all of this, like a true addicted gambler you were hoping against hope you would get that big win that would clear everything up and the hope you would go undetected – particularly by your wife.”
