The High Court battle has been raging since 2019.
An accountant has agreed to pay back his former bosses £500,000 after a civil court action.
Father-of-two Mohammed Asif Khan, 45, took more than £1 million from bodyshop company, North of England Coachworks.
Of that, he spent £160,000 on escorts, including £56,000 to Gemma Massey, who was once the UK’s best paid porn star.
He admitted that he had acted shamefully but did insisted that he did nothing wrong because his bosses knew how he was spending the money and that they were happy with the arrangement.
However, he now accepts he owes the money ‘in respect of the frauds and fraudulent breaches of trust as alleged against him in this action.’
He worked for the firm until 2019 when he was questioned about serious irregularities were noticed in cheque payments and transfers.
The court previously heard that Miss 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.
Miss Massey, an ex of TOWIE star Kirk Norcross, is an Only Fans model and once boasted on the BBC of being the UK’s highest paid porn queen.
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.
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.W
He told the judge: ‘I was giving them money when they had major cash issues. Within that time period, I gave them £800,000.’
But Barrister Sam Neamansaid that, even offset by the amount he had put into the company, it was still £1.1m out of pocket.
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 £1m.
‘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?’
Mr Khan said: ‘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 High Court battle has been raging since 2019, with a trial of the company’s claim final beginning last month.
After an adjournment, it was due to resume this week, but the two sides reached an out of court agreement to end it before the judge could make his ruling.
Under the agreement, Mr Khan agreed by consent that judgment be entered against him in favour of the company in the sum of £500,000, which he must pay by 4pm on August 6, 2024.
‘For the avoidance of doubt the parties agree that the first defendant’s liability hereunder is in respect of the frauds and fraudulent breaches of trust as alleged against him in this action,’ the judge’s consent order states.
Mr Khan also agreed under the terms of the consent order to pay the company’s legal costs of the case, ‘to be assessed by detailed assessment if not agreed’.
A freezing order on Mr Khan’s assets will continue in force until he has paid the £500,000, at which point the company will ask for it to be discharged.
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