Thieving HBOS manager who swindled the bank out of £1.5m spent slush fund on Leeds United box and private jet for family holiday to luxury villa Barrie Goldthorpe, 56, abused a position of trust for five years He spent cash on extravagant holidays and on box at Leeds United He was caught after staff raised suspicions about his plush lifestyle Goldthorpe jailed for three-and-a-half years for conspiracy to defraud Barrie Goldthorpe, 56, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after a court heard how he abused his position at a bank over five years A former HBOS manager who swindled the bank out of £1.5m was caught when colleagues raised suspicions about how he could afford his extravagant lifestyle. Barrie Goldthorpe, 56, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after a court heard how he abused his position over five years and spent the cash on luxury holidays - including one on a private jet - and a corporate box at Leeds United. During a long career with the business Goldthorpe, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, worked his way up to the post of Group Technology Service Manager with a salary of almost £45,000. Michael Greenhalgh, prosecuting, said Goldthorpe and co-defendant Michael Sharkey, who was employed by a company which obtained computer hardware and maintenance engineers for HBOS, were in regular contact over contracts and planned to defraud the bank using inflated or bogus invoices. Goldthorpe was so trusted by the bank that whatever payments he authorised would not be checked, the court heard. The scam came to light in late 2008 and a complex police inquiry lasting five years ended with the jailing of Goldthorpe, Steven Shaw, 60, of Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, and Sharkey, 58, from Scotland, who all admitted a charge of conspiracy to defraud. The court heard some of the sums obtained from the bank between 2003 and 2008 were diverted through a "slush fund" which was used to pay for holidays for Goldthorpe and his wife Jane. Mr Greenhalgh said: 'One was to Jersey and a far more extravagant affair was a private jet used to take them and their family together with Steven Shaw and his family to a villa in the south of France where they had a holiday.' The court heard that money was also spent on lavish meals, electronic goods such as cameras and personal computers and Goldthorpe and Shaw also obtained the use of a corporate box at Leeds United's Elland Road ground. The fraud came to light because Goldthorpe's colleagues reported his extravagant lifestyle, prompting a bank investigation and there was a change of management at Sharkey's firm which uncovered the "slush fund account." Extravagant: Goldthorpe splashed out on a private jet to take his family to a villa in the south of France. The investigation revealed 27 suspicious transactions with invoices totalling £1,591,383.56. Goldthorpe was jailed after the court heard he had received payments totalling almost £540,000. Shaw, who benefited to the tune of just over £70,000, was jailed for 15 months while Sharkey, who received about £30,000 and was described as a "key facilitator," was locked up for two years. Sharkey's 52-year-old brother Peter, also from Scotland - who admitted laundering some of the proceeds - was jailed for 19 months while Paul Ashton, 49, of Leeds, was sentenced to a year in prison also for money laundering. Jane Goldthorpe was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for her limited role in laundering some of the stolen money. She will also have to do 150 hours of unpaid work for the community. Plush: Goldthorpe also paid for a box at Leeds United's Elland Road ground Judge John Potter told Bradford Crown Court on Friday it had been a professionally planned conspiracy which had realised large sums of money over a number of years. During the hearing he described Barrie Goldthorpe as being driven by, and riddled with, dishonesty and greed on a "breathtaking" scale. 'As soon as you were aware of the existence of the slush fund you wished to milk it for as much as you could with a view to living an extravagant and lavish lifestyle and so you did over a number of years living way beyond your means,' the judge told him. The judge said Goldthorpe had also exerted control over his wife and concealed from her how their extravagant lifestyle was being funded. Rodney Ferm, for Goldthorpe, said the couple now had nothing left despite the amounts of money that had passed through their hands and although they had enjoyed the fruits it had left a bitter taste. He made his own decisions. He blames no-one else,' said Mr Ferm.