Leeds lap dance crook left with just £2

A court heard serial crooked Richard Adamson - currently in jail for ripping off two Leeds firms - is virtually penniless after squandering all of his ill-gotten gains.

Adamson was jailed in February after a court heard gave himself a glowing CV to get jobs with two trusting employers then cheated them as well, spending over £3,000 at strip clubs.

The 35-year-old was returned to Leeds Crown Court to face a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Adamson’s barrister, Adam Birkby, said that although his client had benefitted by £27,125 from his deception, he was now “effectively impecunious” and only had £2 available to pay back.

Recorder Andrew Dallas ordered that Adamson pay the £2 within seven days or face an extra day being added to his prison sentence.

Adamson was jailed for 15 months in 2011 for fraud offences on four separate firms of solicitors for whom he worked.

After his release he spotted an advert for an accountancy assistant with Shop 52 and Involution Ltd, a business selling promotional materials, with a salary of £15,500.

Adamson got the job and started work in July 2012.

It was discovered he had not submitted a VAT return which led to the firm being fined and colleagues became increasingly suspicious about the personal details he had given them.

On December 28 last year one colleague found press reports about his past conviction on the internet, causing immediate concern, and an audit was begun.

He had spent more than £5,000 of the £15,000 defrauded at various high street shops and between October 8 and January 7 last year over £3,500 at strip clubs in Leeds.

When arrested he blamed his drinking.

He was on bail and facing prosecution when he got a job as an accounts administrator with Octopus Residential, a family-run letting agency in Chapeltown, Leeds, highlighting his honesty and trustworthiness in his CV.

Suspicions were again raised when his attendance became poor and he was found to have stolen £12,000.

Adamson, of Town Street, Armley, Leeds, admitted fraud and theft and was jailed for a total of 38 months.

The court heard the impact on the two firms had been devastating.

After the sentencing hearing earlier this year, Phill Knowles, of Octopus, said: “He had a veneer of respectability because he went through an agency, but he was stealing from us from day one.”