THE married couple jailed for stealing more than �500,000 from Ammanford's Citizens' Advice Bureau have been ordered to pay compensation to their victims.
Dale Foster, 67, and his wife Sally, 52, siphoned off �575,000 from the Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB) office which they ran. They used the money to fund their lavish lifestyle of holidays and shopping sprees.
Jailed for six years in 2009, the pair were yesterday ordered to pay more than �150,000 to Ammanford CAB.
"The amounts were taken when the couple were in a position of trust," said Milwyn Jarman QC at Swansea Crown Court.
"This money was intended to assist people who were looking for advice and help, often in times of need and stress, and often when the person was in a vulnerable position.
"The CAB in Ammanford were the victims in this case and it is a privilege to make a compensation order for them."
The couple, of Trawler Road, Swansea, now have 12 months to compensate the CAB, or face an extension of their six-year jail term.
Sally Foster, who managed the CAB office, must repay �148,519.50 or face an extra two-and-a-half years in jail; Dale Foster must pay �14,414.90 or face an extra nine months.
Philip Bown, defending Mr Foster, asked for the money to be put towards both defendants' confiscation orders. But because the house is in Sally Foster's name it will only go towards her sum.
The couple were found guilty of eight charges of theft at Swansea Crown Court trial in spring 2009.
Dale Foster was also cleared of five charges of false accounting, while Sally Foster was found guilty of six charges and cleared of another. The jury heard the couple had splashed out on a �17,000 holiday to the upmarket Canadian ski resort of Whistler.
And that they burned through �56,000 in just three months at the end of 2003.
Sentencing, judge Gerald Price QC said: "The brazen nature of your offending is startling, devious and dishonest in the extreme."
The couple had access to large amounts of money after the Ammanford office won a Wales-wide contract to provide a CAB call centre.
Over four years, from 2002, this brought in more than �1.4 million, not including grants from the Assembly and town councils.
The jury heard the couple set up numerous false accounts and companies to prevent themselves from being caught.
The ruse was only up when in 2006 the couple quit overnight.
alex.smith@swwmedia.co.uk
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