Stars' accountant faces jail

13 April 2012

An "incompetent" accountant who fiddled the books to siphon cash from the accounts of his famous clients is facing a jail sentence.

For years, Frank Dixon fiddled the books of Britpop stars Suede, Primal Scream and Echobelly.

For years, Frank Dixon disguised his "massive" betrayal of trust by fiddling the books and pretending he was paying their tax bills.

In reality, the 46-year-old was "siphoning off" large slices of Primal Scream's, Suede's and Echobelly's hard-earned cash to pay wages, clear debts and stave off bankruptcy.

London's Harrow Crown Court was told that he would probably have been caught earlier had it not been for the very success enjoyed by the three chart-toppers and the fact they frequently toured overseas.

When first confronted, Dixon tried to lie his way out of trouble, insisting he had simply paid himself what he was owed.

"He said he was too nervous about raiding invoices as the amounts were large and would have been questioned by the clients," said Sarah Forshaw, prosecuting.

Dixon, of Great North Road, Highgate, north London, had originally been due to stand trial on nine counts of theft and 25 "sample" false accounting charges between May 1997 and May 2000.

But in an unusual move shortly before the start of what should have been a six-week case, Judge Edward Bailey agreed to a defence request to indicate the likely sentence if the accounting offences were admitted.

"The fact that money has gone to keep going a business - the employment of others, work for other clients - is a very different matter from money which has been extracted from clients to fund the proverbial wine, women and song," he said.

In those circumstances, a "fairly short custodial sentence", and possibly something "more lenient", could be expected.

Minutes later, Dixon pleaded guilty to all the accounting charges, with the prosecution agreeing not to proceed on the theft allegations.

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