A Hove woman has been spared prison after trying to dodge a £90,000 gambling debt with a company founded by the billionaire banker and former Conservative Party treasurer Peter Cruddas.
Juliana Posman, 43, stung CMC Spreadbet, by dishonestly obtaining legal protection from her debt to the firm where Lord Cruddas is still a director.
But a jury saw through Posman’s deception and the MBA-qualified gambler, who was living in Grand Avenue, Hove, faced the prospect of prison.
It’s not the first time that Posman has duped other people and saddled them with her debts.
She left her ex-husband Christopher Forte, 41, of Brighton, and his parents £169,000 poorer as she ran up gambling debts of £3.5 million.
Posman was reported to owe two businessmen, Isaac Kaye and Warren Roiter, £2.5 million and – in addition to her spread betting losses – she had various other debts including numerous credit cards.
A jury at Lewes Crown Court heard that CMC made a “statutory demand” for £91,746.93 in May 2017.
Just over a month later, with payment still outstanding, the firm filed a petition to make Posman bankrupt, with a date set to hear the petition at Brighton County Court in September 2017.
Andrew Herd, prosecuting, told the court: “This is a case about dishonesty. You can be sure that Miss Posman was acting dishonestly in order to avoid bankruptcy – and any attempt to deflect the blame is dishonest.”
Mr Herd said that Posman contacted a firm called Creditfix to arrange an IVA – or individual voluntary arrangement – to head off the threat of bankruptcy before the county court hearing could take place.
She secured an agreement with her creditors, having listed debts of about £108,000, but having failed to disclose the additional £91,000 owed to CMC.
Had she included the spread betting debt, Mr Herd told the jury, then the IVA would not have been agreed – and she knew that.
Rory Gordon, defending, told the jury that Posman accepted knowing about the “statutory demand” from CMC but said that it had not been formally served on her.
She had been advised that it had to be served on her before it could be included in the list of debts to be covered by the IVA.
And she later told Creditfix that she did not declare the CMC debt because she disputed being responsible for the outstanding sum.
CMC was not impressed and, by the end of October, the IVA was formally overturned, Posman was made bankrupt and she and Mr Forte were divorced.
On Friday (14 April) Judge Stephen Mooney sentenced Posman – known to friends as Lia – to a year in prison suspended for 18 months.
He ordered her to carry out 200 hours unpaid work and undergo rehab which he said he hoped would address her gambling addiction.
Judge Mooney said: “She seems to be to addicted to spread betting which is very high risk. She tried to gamble her way out of it. That’s a classic trait of someone who is addicted to gambling.”
He said that she did everything she could to try to avoid paying her debts. But she had no previous convictions and the offence – of making a false representation by omission – had happened more than five years ago.
The Insolvency Service said: “Juliana Posman sought to flagrantly abuse the bankruptcy process and leave creditors out of pocket by taking out the individual voluntary arrangement without disclosing the significant debt from her gambling account.
“This is a serious offence and her conviction should serve as a warning to anyone else that trying to escape debts in this way is wholly unacceptable.”
Gambling can be a serious addiction. I hope this person receives the help they need whilst incarcerated.
SHe still owes 48 million Indonesian rupiah from 2019 from my husband.
She was Crying, borrowed the moneys to declare bankruptcy.
Liar!
His brother & sister has investment company in jakarta name INDOSTERLING.
William Henley & Juli berliana posman.
Please investigate.