Professional stole over £100k in fees from visitors to historic club

A Professional golfer has been jailed for defrauding his own club to the tune of more than £100,000, reports metro.co.uk.

Steve Hunter was a trusted figure at the historic Royal Winchester Golf Club but stole cash and cheated the taxman to enrich himself.

The 54-year-old ran a five-year scam from June 2013 to steal green fee payments of £109,375 by ‘vastly’ under-reporting takings and pocketing the difference.

He even ‘cruelly’ stole £11,000 from two charity golf days held in aid of Canine Partners, organised in memory of a long-standing member of the golf club, with the charity only receiving £47.

Hunter was convicted of false accounting after an investigation found he diverted £343,449 of takings from his professional golf shop to his personal bank account instead of his business account to avoid paying tax.

He further cheated the public revenue by failing to declare retainer payments and VAT payments of more than £105,000 to HMRC.

Sentencing the Hampshire golfer at Salisbury Crown Court, judge Andrew Barnett said: “You had occupied that post for some considerable period having been appointed in the 1990s and you had attracted a considerable amount of support and admiration from members and along with that a high degree of trust.

“Whether motivated by greed or disorganisation that became dishonest, you exploited the club and the trust they had put in you to some considerable degree.

“Your criminality was extensive, deliberate and deeply wounding to those who put their trust in you.”

Robert Shaw, defending, described Hunter as a ‘family man’, and said: “He is of previous good character.

“What he has done has undermined his good name and his work at the club where for many years he was a loyal member, he had been there for 30