DARLINGTON, UK — Matthew Eeles, 40, a former director at Imperial Recruitment Group, has been jailed for 23 months and two weeks after committing fraud totaling £140,381.30. Eeles initially received a two-year suspended sentence earlier this year but failed to comply with the court’s rehabilitation and unpaid work requirements.
Eeles admitted creating fictional lorry drivers and invoicing fake HGV journeys to a client, Pollocks, while diverting the payments to accounts belonging to two accomplices. Prosecutors said he used the stolen funds to pay off a cocaine addiction debt exceeding £20,000.
In April 2025, Eeles was handed a suspended prison term with 30 rehabilitation days and 200 hours of unpaid work. By December, he had completed only one rehabilitation day and 41 hours of community service.
During sentencing, Judge Jonathan Carroll criticized Eeles for dishonesty and non-compliance, stating: “He is shaking his head. He is a liar.” Despite Eeles’ claims that probation issues prevented full compliance, the judge rejected this explanation.
Eeles had admitted in texts to company colleagues: “It’s all lies. I made the drivers up. They didn’t work… I did it for the sales and the GP to make the business look better than it was. I can’t talk. I’m ashamed. I am a fraud.”
Judge Carroll reduced the sentence by two weeks to account for the partial work completed. The former director of Westerdale Avenue, Stockton, will now serve his prison term in full.
