A 'heartless' businessman who stole hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash and stock from the company he ran with other family members lived a secret life of luxury as the firm struggled to survive, a court heard.
It's thought that the crimes of Joseph Wilde, 56, carried out over a six-year period, cost the New Smithfield Market-based business, J and B Wilde, about £500,000.
He has now been jailed for six years.
"This offence is probably the worst offence of theft committed in breach of trust that I have ever encountered," sentencing Judge Richard Mansell QC said.
The company, which has been in the Wilde family for more than a century, sells meat, poultry, game and fish primarily to shops and restaurants from the market in Openshaw .
Joseph Wilde, from Heywood , ran the business alongside his siblings and cousins, after it was passed down to them from his father and uncle in the 1990s.
But from April 2011 to May 2017 at least, Joseph Wilde was pocketing vast amounts of cash by selling some of the company's stock to a small group of customers which he kept off the books and retained the proceeds for himself.
On the back of this 'despicable' crime, Wilde lived a staggering life of luxury, Manchester Crown Court heard.
More than £420,000 in cash was found in his bedroom, comprised of £217,000 in notes and coins, £120,000 in a box contained in a wardrobe and £87,000 in a bedside cabinet drawer.
He drove a top-of-the-range BMW X6, worth £106,000, and his house was full of luxury items.
Watches worth at least £50,000 were found, a new kitchen worth £30,000 had been installed, and a cinema room with a projector and surround sound worth at least £10,000 was discovered.
Artwork around the home was valued at nearly £15,000, and a number of ladies' designer handbags worth between £15,000 and £25,000 were found, described by the judge as a 'quite sickening display of wealth'.
"While you were leading this secretive life of luxury, your fellow partners, your own brother, your own sister and your own cousin were struggling to get by," Judge Mansell said.
The three family members had to put up their home as security for an overdraft for the business, as did Wilde.
The court heard that they worked tirelessly to keep the business running, but that they were effectively 'running up sand, helpless to stem the losses and only just managing to keep operating'.
When they heard why the business was haemorrhaging money, the family couldn't believe it was true.
Wilde had three loyal off-book customers, who he would sell produce to at cost price.
The judge said the buyers 'couldn't believe their luck'.
One of his secret customers was a businessman who sold produce wholesale to Chinese restaurants and takeaways.
He estimated that in the eight years he had dealt with Wilde, he had bought between £560,000 and £760,000 worth of stock.
Judge Mansell said Wilde 'pocketed the vast majority' of the cash he received from the businessman.
Wilde also sold company stock to a Chinese takeaway in Dukinfield, which estimated they had paid him between £90,000 and £100,000.
He is said to have collected another £15,000 by selling a box of chicken and eggs to a Chinese restaurant in Oldham every week.
Meanwhile, the partners at J and B Wilde constantly worried about how they were going to pay suppliers and balance the books.
The court heard that the three other partners in the company were very emotional as they attended court during the two-week trial, which concluded on Friday with unanimous guilty verdicts on all counts.
Wilde's 86-year-old father has had to continue to work in the business to help it survive, and says the stress of the situation has caused him to suffer a heart attack.
Sentencing, Judge Mansell hit out at Wilde, labelling him a 'thoroughly selfish and heartless individual'.
"The fact that you were prepared to steal from the business he established and gifted to you and your siblings and cousin, after all he has done for you, knowing that he does not even own his own home, is nothing short of despicable.
"I cannot be sure what motivated you to do this, Joseph Wilde.
"Either you harbour a deep resentment towards one of more members of your own family, which motivated you to harm this business for your own enrichment.
"Or you are just a selfish, greedy, heartless man who puts your own interests ahead of everyone else's."
Joseph Wilde, of Harold Lees Road, Heywood, was found guilty of one count of theft, one count of possessing criminal property, and three counts of converting criminal property after a trial.
A Proceeds of Crime hearing will be held on June 7.
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