The Government has received part repayment from a gambling addict who conned it out of $2 million.

Jeffrey Bevan, a Welsh book-keeper who worked in the Accountant-General's office between 2011 and 2013, admitted laundering a fortune stolen from the Government and was jailed for more than seven years in 2018.

The Bermuda Police Service said Bevan, who was ordered to pay back $820,000 when his assets were seized last year, made the payment this week.

Superintendent Nicholas Pedro, the officer in charge of Serious Crime, said: “The Bermuda Police Service would like to thank its partners in the Office of the Accountant-General for their early detection of this matter, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, officials at HSBC Bermuda as well as our colleagues in the Welsh Regional Asset Recovery Team, for all their efforts in bringing this matter to a conclusion favourable to the Government and people of Bermuda.”

Bevan, 53, was employed in the Accountant-General's office to implement a new finance system in which he was an expert and used that knowhow to cover his tracks.

He built up a small property empire in Britain after he invested a big chunk of the cash in houses and penthouse apartments. He also lived the high life and attended top horse racing tracks as a VIP and enjoyed regular lavish holidays with his family in the Caribbean, United States and Europe.

He was prosecuted in Britain with the co-operation of the Bermuda authorities and admitted three counts of transfer of criminal property and ten counts of conversion of criminal property.

Mr Pedro added: “I would also like to thank and acknowledge our team members in the Financial Crime Unit, whose tenacity, analysis, and diligence resulted in the identification, recovery, and restitution of significant stolen assets to the Bermuda Government.

“Our ability to work across borders with our international partners and conduct complex investigations into serious financial crime is an important feature in our mandate to protect Bermuda as a leading international financial centre.”

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