A 'CALCULATED' thief who stole over £1.3million from his employer in High Wycombe has been ordered to pay back nearly £150,000 of the cash.

Lee Stephen Young, 34, of Petronel Road, Aylesbury, was jailed for four and a half years after being found guilty of theft by an employee at Aylesbury Crown Court on March 11.

And after a successful confiscation order obtained by the Economic Crime Unit, Young will be forced to repay £146,612 towards recouping the losses caused by his crime.

Young stole the cash while working as a project manager at IT company Azzurri Communications on Gordon Road, High Wycombe.

Responsible for assessing the computer requirements of Azzurri clients and ordering sufficient stock to meet the client needs, he over-ordered stock and sold the excess on to a third party for profit.

This carried on over a number of years until a supervisor discovered company stock being sent to an address not known to be a client site.

These unauthorised transfers were found to be hundreds of thousands of pounds, and it was reported to police in High Wycombe in October 2013.

At the same time, it was discovered that Young was selling his house; this was restrained by members of the Economic Crime Unit, meaning he could not sell it.

A full financial investigation was completed by the ECU, which showed that Young had benefitted to the tune of of £1,361,721.52 and his available assets were £146,612.

A confiscation order was heard at Aylesbury Crown Court on Thursday May 15, where the judge ordered that Young repay £146,612 within six months, to go towards compensation for the losses.

If the money is not repaid within the six months, Young will serve a further two years imprisonment on top of his original sentence and still have to pay back the cash.

Financial Investigator Chris Yoxall, from the ECU, said: “I am pleased that we were able to block the sale of Young’s house, which meant that at least some of the cash was paid back to the victim of this calculated crime.

“Thames Valley Police is dedicated to ensuring criminals do not benefit from the proceeds of their crime and always seek to use the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) to obtain orders such as this. I hope this sends out the message that crime doesn’t pay.”