A former manager at the Royal Horticultural Society has been jailed for four years for masterminding a £700,000 fraud against the charity.
Operations manager Stuart Medhurst, 56, who worked for the RHS for 20 years, used the cash to fund his “champagne” lifestyle over a decade-long scam.
He got Elaine Summers, 54, and Shaheen Kadri, 44, to send him fake invoices for cleaning work before the con was uncovered by accident.
Prosecutor John Traversi told the court that Medhurst spent more than £40,000 on a haul of high-priced electronics and household items as the court heard of a life of "champagne and nightclubs".
They included £10,244 on a Bang and Olufsen sound system, two Siemens Porsche designer kettles, a toaster, along with a high-end steam iron, washing machine, dishwasher, digital camera, hair trimmer, fitness bicycle and microwave.
Mr Traversi said Medhurst ensured that invoices for the items were disguised "so that the exact nature would not immediately become apparent".
Recorder Gopal Hooper told the trio who sat quietly in the dock during sentencing: "It (the scam) appears quite simple but it was quite sophisticated. It was done not by need by the three of you but by greed.
"By the time the scam started you, Stuart Medhurst, were leading a lifestyle of champagne and nightclubs using money you did not have."
Medhurst, of Vincent Square, Westminster, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to steal - for sums amounting to £360,850.51 with Summers and £317,110 with Kadri.
He was sentenced to four years jail on each of these counts which are to be served concurrently.
He was also sentenced to another year, to be served concurrently, after admitting a count of fraud in abusing his position at the RHS by withdrawing £43,895 for his own "personal use".
Summers and Kadri were each found guilty by a jury at the same court in July of one count of theft.
Summers was sentenced to 18 months in jail while Kadri was sentenced to two-and-a-half years imprisonment.
