Yahoo Finance Financial advisor stole £600,000 from his own family to pay for 'lavish lifestyle'
A financial advisor who stole more than £600,000 from his own family to pay for a luxury lifestyle has been jailed for six years and four months.
David Nicholas King, 38, from Derbyshire, splurged money from his late grandmother's life savings on holidays, designer clothing and expensive cars.
The cash had been entrusted to him by other members of his family who thought he was going to invest it for them using his financial expertise.
But King, known as Nick, who ran his own business called DNK Wealth Management, had other plans.
He was given £370,000 from the sale of his grandmother's home in 2010 to invest in a bond for her children and grandchildren after two previous bonds he had set up with his nan’s savings performed well.
But his relatives became suspicious when the family solicitor was contacted by HMRC raising queries about the bonds, suspecting the family was deliberately trying to conceal the money for tax avoidance purposes.
King eventually admitted to his mother he had spent the money and also confessed he took cash contained in the original two bonds that were worth £140,000 and £280,000.
In a phone call he told her: “Mum, you're not going to like this but I've spent the money, and never invested the money from the sale of Granny's house.”
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King also admitted he spent £20,000 of his mother's inheritance from his grandfather and £10,000 of his ex-Royal Marine brother's savings.
An additional £35,000 was stolen from a close family friend.
King used bogus paperwork and documentation to make it seem as if the various 'investments' were performing well.
Investigating officer DC Paul Douglas, from South Yorkshire Police's Financial Crime Investigation Unit, said: "Stealing his family members' money in this way was the ultimate betrayal.
“All of them trusted King to invest their money carefully on their behalf as their financial advisor.
"Instead, he frittered it away on a lavish lifestyle he could not afford, treating himself to various exotic holidays, designer outfits and days out at an exclusive shooting range in North Yorkshire.
"King's offending has torn his family apart and they have all found it extremely difficult to come to terms with the fact they were lied to for years.
“In all this time, King has shown barely any remorse for his actions.”
King, previously of Sheffield, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday to six years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of theft and one count of fraud by false representation.
