Tip manager who pocketed £68k in scam jailed

The manager of a community tip on the Isle of Man who stole £68,000 of public money from the site has been jailed for two years and four months.

Michael Rose, 60, created false invoices for recycling services offered to the Western Civic Amenity Site in St Johns before using his work ID to withdraw cash from the site's bank account to pay for them - which he then pocketed.

The fraud, which lasted more than four years, came to light when a bookkeeper noticed the invoices had stopped while Rose was on long-term sick leave and reported it.

The impact of his actions had "punished an entire community" by leading to rises in local authority contributions, Douglas Courthouse was told.

The court heard Rose had worked at the site - which is funded by the five western local authorities of Marown, German, Patrick, Michael and Peel and governed by a joint board - since 2008.

He was promoted to manager in 2013, giving him responsibility for staffing and financial controls.

Between August 2020 and February 2025 he created several invoices for recycling and transportation services featuring the branding and postcode of a local firm but with the made-up name of N Lewis, the court was told.

He then made chip and pin withdrawals from the site's account to pay for them, using his work ID to identify himself to bank staff.

The court heard deposits totalling more than £62,000 were made into his own bank account during the period, with a further £6,000 believed to have been kept by Rose as cash.

The fraud was discovered in April 2025, a month after he was signed off sick, when it was noticed that the invoices had stopped in February.

The board reported the matter to police and investigations revealed the full extent of his offending.

Prosecutors said a previous investigation had been carried out after his wife reported him missing in March 2025 following a deterioration in his mental health when he claimed to have been the victim of a "high value scam".

That had revealed 48 PayPal payments to himself attributed to services including "plumbing" and "construction" totalling more than £35,000 between 16 July 2024 and 6 February 2025.

The court heard a similar number of payments were made back into the amenity site's account, leading to an over payment of about £100.

In a prepared statement to police at the time, Rose said his account had automatically deducted the amounts then he had paid them back, leading to that side of the investigation being closed.

His defence advocate said it had always been his intention to pay the £68,000 back, but he had not had the chance to do so before the fraud was discovered.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, a board member from the tip said Rose's actions had "punished an entire community that had no part in any of this".

His actions had led to above-inflation rises in contributions from the five local authorities, which became a source of tension and "shattered trust" in them, she added.

The bookkeeper who reported the transactions had also been affected by the situation, the court was told, with online comments questioning her competence threatening her reputation.

She had reported it because it was "the right thing to do" but had suffered personally and professionally as a result, the court heard.

Jailing Rose, Deemster Cook said it was an "extremely serious case of fraud".

He had used sophisticated methods to withdraw large sums of cash and the breach of trust was "extremely" important and relevant to the sentencing, the deemster added.

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