Accountant sued for £1m after spending tens of thousands in company cash on prostitutes

A married accountant is being sued for £1.1 million by his former bosses for allegedly spending tens of thousands of pounds of company money on escorts.

Father-of-two Mohammed Asif Khan, 45, is accused of “stealing” about £1.1 million of company money while working for North of England Coachworks, the North East’s biggest vehicle bodyshop.

The company says “self-styled director of finance” Mr Khan splashed out about £160,000 on payments to escorts – including £56,000 to £1,000-an-hour call girl and porn star Gemma Massey.

But while the married father admitted his “shame” after using company money to pay prostitutes, he insisted he did nothing wrong as his bosses knew how he was spending the money and were happy with the arrangement.

‘I’m ashamed’

”I was ashamed of the things that happened – for my wife,” he told the High Court, but added: “The company didn’t care what I spent that money on.”

Judge Dexter Dias KC heard Mr Khan, of Newcastle, worked for North of England Coachworks until 2019 as the company accountant.

When serious irregularities with cheque payments and money transfers were noticed in 2019, he was quizzed and resigned, the firm’s barrister Sam Neaman said.

He said investigations revealed that Mr Khan had been using company cheques and transfers to pay for things that were not for the company’s benefit.

The net loss to the company was about £1.1 million, he said, with an estimated £160,000 of that going to named women, including about £56,000 to Ms Massey and her company alone.

”It is not just names, you will see an awful lot of information from the internet which establishes what these ladies did for a profession,” he said. “She is obviously one of many.”

The court previously heard that Ms Massey – a former dental nurse and beautician  was – “self-described as a high-class escort” on a web page put forward as part of the case.

The 39-year-old is an Only Fans model and once boasted on the BBC of being the UK’s highest paid porn queen.

‘I have to defend this for my children’

Defending the claim against him, Mr Khan insisted that he did not do anything his employers did not approve of, although he admitted paying escorts.

“The reality is they’re not telling the truth and this is my life,” he told the judge.

“Walking in here by yourself is the most daunting thing ever.

“I have to defend this for my children, and my wife. I know the truth. I know I am innocent of the charges they have raised.”

Mr Khan claimed that much of the money that was taken from the company was in repayment of “loans” he had made to it when there were cash flow problems.

“I was giving them money when they had major cash issues,” he told the judge. “Within that time period, I gave them £800,000.”

But Mr Neaman said that, even offset by the amount he had put into the company, it was still £1.1 million out of pocket.

“What we say is that over this six-and-a-half year period, he took £1.1 million more than he put in,” he said.

Mr Khan said some of the money was a “bonus” he was entitled to and came as part of an unusual way of paying him.

Addressing Mr Khan, Judge Dias said the company’s case was that he had “stolen about £1 million”.

“Is it your case that the company gave you permission to spend money on prostitutes?” he asked.

Mr Khan replied: “Not specifically for that, but they were aware. In reality, they didn’t care what I spent that money on. The G Massey name was on there. They knew that was what I was doing.”

The judge asked: “Why would a company be happy for you to spend so much money on prostitutes?”

Insisting that he was entitled to use company money that way, Mr Khan replied: “In reality, it was my money. The company didn’t care what I spent that money on. The agreement we had was I could spend that money, that was mine.

“Unlikely as it sounds, they were aware of where that money was going. That was the truth.”

The trial continues.