Sacked Jewson boss rebailed on £1m fraud charge

Tony Newman, the former sales director of Jewson, has reappeared before police in Coventry to answer bail.

Newman was arrested on suspicion of playing a role in a £1m fraud at the company.

He was dismissed from his job in April following the arrest.

He is one of five men on bail in connection with a police inquiry which is investigating claims of accounting irregularities at the firm.

At the time of Newman's dismissal, a company statement said: "We can confirm that following an investigation by our internal audit department, Tony Newman was dismissed from his role as sales director, on 18 April. In addition, one other person, who had been employed by Jewson for less than two weeks, has been dismissed as a result of our internal investigation.

"This matter, which relates to the fraudulent supply and procurement of marketing services, has now been passed to the police who are conducting a detailed investigation with our full cooperation and support.
 
"We can categorically state that no customers are or have been in any way involved with this matter.

"Jewson is an organisation that is governed by strong principles of conduct. This incident is seen as an opportunity to reaffirm these across the organisation and with our external relations. We are unable to comment further at this time in light of the ongoing police investigation."