A 43-YEAR-OLD man who lived a “lavish lifestyle” has been jailed for five years after it was found he stole more than £2.5 million from his employer.

Aren De Vos, of Howards Wood Drive, Gerrards Cross, had worked as a financial consultant at Ladbrokes head office in Harrow.

He was arrested in November last year, two days after Ladbrokes reported financial irregularities, and charged with stealing money from the bookmakers between 2000 and 2010.

Police said he put through a total of 64 electronic cheque requisitions into Impact Sports Ltd, a fake company that he set up.

He was sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on April 28 after admitting ten counts of theft by employee.

The investigating officer, Acting Detective Sergeant Andy Simpson, from Harrow CID said De Vos had lived a “lavish lifestyle”, adding: "This was a serious crime conducted in a calculating way and the judge indicated that the sentence of five years would have been longer if De Vos had not been of previous good character."