The chief financial officer of a Mayfair-based 'lifestyle' firm selling luxury goods online has been jailed for 40 months for defrauding the firm out of £370,000.

John Maynard, 61, of Richmond rd, Lincoln, abused his position in charge of the finances of Achicha Ltd by doubling his £90,000 salary, giving money to his stepson and drawing £166,000 to buy an old pub next door to his home.

By the end of his three and a half years of fraud the company was in financial difficulties and he quit - taking yet more money form Achicha in the form of a severance package, Gloucester crown court was told yesterday.

Maynard admitted fraud against the company - whose accountants are based in Cheltenham - between 20th May 2010 and 30th Sept 2013.

Jailing him, Mr Justice Dingemans said "You deluded yourself that you would be able to repay this money but you were not able to repay and you continued to take yet more money, using the company as a supplement to your income.

"You were going through an expensive divorce and you had difficulties with your stepson. You used some of the money to buy him a house next door to your home.

"Achicha Ltd got into financial difficulties in late 2013 and you left in early 2014 with a severance package.

"You had been a successful finance officer in the past but you had begun to live beyond your means.

"You are, however, plainly a person about whom a lot of good can be said."

The judge passed a 3yrs 4 months sentence on Maynard and told him he will have to return to court on 30th July for a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Prosecutor Stephen Thomas said Maynard had started work for the firm, which employs 110 staff, in 2009.

"It is a firm which was seeking to sell lifestyle goods at a relatively high end of the market by way of the internet," he said.

"He was employed first as head of finance, then company secretary and from 2011 onwards was the chief financial officer.

"He had a significant and important role in terms of managing the finances of the company. Although not a director he was a very senior member of the management.

"From 2013 he was discussing with the directors the terms for him leaving with a severance package in early 2014. He was to continue in a consultancy role to help with the end of year audit."

Mr Thomas said a sample of the accounts was scrutinised as part of the audit process and a £2,000 payment Maynard had made to his stepson was found. He had repaid it ten days later.

A further payment of £166,000 to a mortgage company in Feb 2013 was then discovered. It was a payment to purchase a former pub next door to Maynard's home. Maynard had repaid it nine months later.

However, a further £120,000 was discovered in that period which had not been repaid by Maynard, Mr Thomas said.

Maynard was confronted and admitted he had taken money and paid it to himself, his wife or his stepson.

"Further checks were made and it was found that, going back to 2010, a period of three and a half years, a total of 40 payments had been authorised by him to himself, his wife or stepson.

"It was found that at the end of the months, when he was paying his salary of about £6,000, he would pay it twice.

"He said he had been intending to pay the money back by selling the pub he had purchased. Some of the money had been used for renovations, he said."

Mr Thomas said the firm sued Maynard in the civil courts and judgement for £619,000 - including costs and interest - was made against him.

Maynard and his family then left the country and went to Bulgaria and he was not arrested and interviewed until much later when he returned to the UK, Mr Thomas said.

"The business was clearly under financial pressure by 2014 bexause it had been making a loss," he said. "It had lost £6million in one of the years in question. It had been projected to break even in 2013 but its cash flow problems were exacerbated by the defendant drawing cash from the business. "

The firm had subsequently been sold to another company, he added.

Maynard had criminal convictions for theft and false accounting when he was in his early 20s but nothing since, Mr Thomas said.

Riaz Hussain, defending, said Maynard has no assets left and he and his wife are living with her ex husband. Bankruptcy proceedings have begun against him.

"His intention was always to repay this money," he said. "This intention was based on the company being floated and him having share options coming to him. He had a belief that in the future he would receive those options."

Mr Hussain argued that the offences were 'extremely unsophisticated'.

"He finds himself at the age of 61 with his character so damaged that he is now unemployable. He is in a dire financial situation, bankrupt. At the end of his working life he finds himself not just in the civil courts but the criminal courts facing a prison sentence."

Mr Hussain urged the court to pass a suspended sentence as Maynard has already had almost four years with the case hanging over him.

But the judge said it was too serious a case for him to be able to pass a sentence short enough to qualify for suspension.

Probation officer Jo Hall, who interviewed Maynard before yesterday's hearing, said the offences stemmed from him not having the lifestyle he had enjoyed in the past - and having to struggle to pay a £100,000 divorce settlement.