An accountant jailed for swindling $1.8 million from the Bermuda Government has had 18 months added to his sentence for cheating his mother out of nearly $64,000.

Now, Jeffrey Bevan has had 18 months added to the seven years and four months he was sentenced to in January for the Bermuda offences.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Bevan, 51, kept the cash after he told his mother Lavinia he would invest it for her.

The offence took place between 2013 and 2014 when Ms Bevan, who has since died, was aged in her seventies.

Bevan, 51, from Ty Canol, Cwmbran, Wales, was found guilty of the offence by a jury.

Judge Michael Fitton QC told Bevan: “You deliberately targeted your elderly mother whose faculties were diminishing.

“It was a cynical offence for your own benefit.”

A victim impact statement by Bevan’s brother Jason said: “If my mother were alive today, she would have been appalled by Jeff’s actions.”

Judge Fitton said: “The victim personal statement shows this was a deeply distressing event for your family.

“This was committed by someone who is intelligent and who was employed as an accountant.

“This remains a deeply unattractive and selfish offence.”

Bevan pleaded guilty at the same court in January to three charges of the transfer of criminal property and ten charges of converting criminal property.

The offences took place between 2011 and 2013 when Bevan was employed by the Bermuda Government as a payments manager.

The court heard at the time that he used the cash to pay off a $179,000 mortgage on his home, invest in 11 other properties and buy two Mercedes Benz cars.

Bevan, who earned about $102,000 in Bermuda, claimed the $1.8 million was payment for his work on the island for the Accountant-General’s office, where he was hired to implement a new finance system.

He committed the offence involving his mother after he returned to the UK.

Judge Fitton ordered that the 18-month sentence for the offence should be served after Bevan’s jail term for the island offences ended.

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