A police hunt is underway for Harvey Pearce, a bogus accountant who has skipped bail and may have fled the country to avoid being sentenced for obtaining almost £155,000 from two employers through false representation and defrauding the National Film and Television School of more than £24,000
Pearce, from Didcot, was convicted at Aylesbury Crown Court in May this year of five counts of fraud by abuse of position, two counts of fraud by false representation and one count of theft by employee.
The court was told that in 2010 he falsely represented that he was a qualified accountant in order to obtain a job as a finance manager at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield. The ruse was only uncovered three years later when colleagues raised concerns about some of his work.
An internal investigation after Pearce left the job in 2013 identified a number of fraudulent transactions, including salary overpayments of more than £4,000, expenses payments totalling almost £15,000 and the use of the school credit card to pay for personal items including two iPads.
Pearce went on to take a job in 2014 as finance manager at Diamond Light Source in Didcot, where he again falsely represented that he was a qualified accountant.
Pearce was due back in at Aylesbury Crown Court on June 7 be sentenced, but failed to appear.
it was revealed that his defence team had not been in contact with Pearce since 25 May and it was believed he could have skipped the country to avoid a sentence behind bars.
The court heard that his solicitors had tried to get in touch with Pearce but the ringing tone on his mobile phone appeared to suggest he was abroad.
Judge Justin Cole has now issued a warrant for Pearce's arrest. Pearce’s legal team sought to argue that he should not be sentenced in his absence, and noted that he had been suffering from depression.
