A judge in the Edinburgh Sheriff Court recently sentenced Stuart Holloway, a former banker for the Royal Bank of Scotland (“RBS”), to 21 months imprisonment for stealing more than £276,000 from clients between March 2012 and February 2013. Holloway also pleaded guilty to offenses involving violations of the Bribery Act 2010.
According to the sentencing statement, Holloway was working as a relationship manager in RBS’s Global Restructuring Group (“GRG”), which services loans with debt in excess of £1 million, at the time of the offenses. Between March 2012 and February 2013, Holloway allegedly accepted a total of nearly £110,000 from a bank client whose loan had been referred to GRG. Holloway allegedly collected the funds after he “persistently requested payments” to himself and to others in exchange for certain undescribed services. Holloway also allegedly convinced a second bank client to transfer his business portfolio to GRG by offering to help him secure a better deal with the bank. Once the portfolio was transferred, once again Holloway allegedly made “repeated and persistent requests for payments” to be made to himself and others with the understanding that certain services would be performed. Holloway allegedly collected just under £165,000 from the second client.
According to the court, the offenses occurred while Holloway was suffering from a gambling addiction. In determining the sentence, the court considered certain aggravating factors such as the senior position of trust that Holloway held at the time the offenses and the victims who he deliberately targeted based on their perceived financial vulnerabilities and ability to pay. Among the mitigating factors considered by the court were steps taken by Holloway to address his gambling addiction and the genuine remorse he had for his actions. After considering all circumstances, the court chose to lower the prison sentence by 20 percent – from 26 months to 21 months.
Judiciary of Scotland Sentencing Statement