Financial adviser 'defrauded own mother of £137k'

A financial adviser defrauded his own mother out of £137,000 and used it to fund his gambling, a court has heard.

Simon Haydock, 49, of Cardiff, spent the bulk of the money within a month, Newport Crown Court heard.

Geraldine Haydock, who is in her 70s, believed her son was investing the money on her behalf.

But Mr Haydock, who denies fraud, was spending the money "as he liked" and saying it was a gift from his mother, jurors were told.

Mr Haydock, the managing director of Cascade Wealth Management, "abused his position" as a financial advisor where he was expected to "safeguard" the financial interests of his client, his own mother, the court was told.

Nicholas Jones, prosecuting, told jurors Ms Haydock had sold a property in 2010 and had given £137,338.62 to her son to "invest on her behalf", but he began to spend large sums of his mother's money.

Jurors heard Mr Haydock spent tens of thousands of pounds on consecutive days with IG Index, which was described in court as a "spread betting" company.

He paid money to the betting company Betfair and transferred tens of thousands of pounds to his wife.

The defendant told police that he "did a bit of gambling".

The court heard that within a month he had spent the majority of the money in his account and it had decreased to around £9,000.

Mr Jones said Mr Haydock had been giving the money "to his wife, or gambling with it".

The defendant denies a single charge of fraud between December 2010 and July 2014 and the trial continues.