THE former managing director of a Gwynedd bus firm who made inflated claims about concessionary fare passenger numbers has been ordered to repay £42,894 to the county council.
David Hulme, 56, of Glan Seiont, Caernarfon, jailed for six years last March, had benefited from the fiddle by £87,683, the town’s crown court was told during a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing.
Judge Huw Rees ordered an eight months jail term if the available amount weren’t repaid to Gwynedd council within three months.
Hulme had been convicted of fraud and false accounting between July 2011 and December 2012 at Llanberis. The prosecution said the Padarn Bus scam had involved £495,857 at the point when he was suspended.
The concessionary fare scheme, which enables pensioners and some other passengers to travel free of charge in Wales, is funded by the Welsh Government and operated by local councils.
The company had a fleet of 43 buses and 84 staff but went bust owing more than £2 million.
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