The former head of finance at a performing arts charity has been jailed after stealing more than £800,000 to fund an “extensive gambling habit”.

Karen McGowan, 50 and of Sileby, Leicestershire, transferred £868,804 from the Curve Theatre in Leicester to an account she shared with her husband. 

At Leicester Crown Court last week, McGowan was jailed for four years and 10 months after she pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two counts of fraud by abuse of position and one count of transferring criminal property between December 2017 and April 2019. 

Her husband Graham McGowan, 57, also of Sileby, Leicestershire, was charged with one count of entering an arrangement which he knew or suspected facilitated the acquisition of criminal property.

He initially pleaded not guilty and a trial started on 23 September but he changed his plea to guilty the following day.

He was given a 23-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The couple’s crimes were uncovered in April 2019 after an investigation by Leicestershire Police’s Economic Crime Unit. 

Graham McGowan was not an employee at the charity but in each case, the money was quickly laundered into a bank account in his name, Leicestershire Police said.

Nicole McIntyre, investigator at Leicestershire Police’s ECU, said: “The fraud came to light with the high volume of bank transfers and the significant amounts of money that were involved.

“The money Karen took was used to fund her extensive gambling habit.

“She carried out a callous act knowing that as part of her job she was entrusted to manage the charity’s finances, taking full advantage of the trust that was placed in her and her role.”

McIntrye said that at no point did Graham McGowan contact the theatre, his bank or the police to report that a large sum of money had appeared in his account, as would be expected if he was unaware of Karen McGowan’s actions.

“The fact he didn’t notify the authorities is a clear indicator – later confirmed by his guilty plea – that he was complicit,” McIntyre said.

“I hope today’s outcome really brings home the impact of the couple’s actions and makes them reflect on their wrongdoing.”

Chris Stafford and Nikolai Foster, chief executive and artistic director of the Curve Theatre, said in a joint statement: “Although this was an incredibly challenging time for our theatre, the day-to-day business of Curve has not been affected by the fraud and we have continued to go from strength to strength.

“We will now begin the process of recovering funds, and we would like to thank the team at Leicestershire Police, especially Nicole McIntyre and Meryl Bishop, who worked tirelessly to secure justice for our theatre.”