A British businessman, Ian Clayton-Smith, has taken his former partner, Nigerian-born entrepreneur Cynthia Tooley, to court over an alleged theft of £12,258 from his cosmetics company.
Clayton-Smith filed a civil lawsuit against Tooley at the Luton County Court, accusing her of misappropriating funds from B-Fab UK Limited, a company he founded.
According to Daily Mail UK, the 70-year-old businessman told the court that the alleged theft occurred about six years ago while Tooley worked for his firm.
The court was informed that Tooley was hired as Head of E-commerce at B-Fab UK Limited in April 2019, with a salary of £55,000 per year and a 5% bonus on any monthly sales exceeding £150,000.
Evidence presented showed that Tooley created an Amazon merchant account for the company and, on two occasions, transferred funds from the account to cover her salary and bonuses.
She reportedly sent an invoice to Clayton-Smith during the Christmas period of 2019 to justify the transactions.
Additionally, Tooley was said to have opened a U.S. account with the online bank Square for handling American sales.
However, in January 2020, the account was frozen for 90 days following an irregularity.
In his witness statement, Clayton-Smith disclosed that he and Tooley began a personal relationship around June 2019.
He claimed that she was repeatedly warned by him and the management team that paying herself without authorization was considered theft.
Tooley, however, denied any wrongdoing. She told the court that she had previously paid herself in a similar manner without facing any objections.
“I had done it before, and nobody had challenged it. I believed I was entitled to those payments,” she said.
Meanwhile, it was also reported that Tooley’s marriage to her estranged husband, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, ended in separation in 2024 following marital issues.
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