Paul Flowers, the former chairman of Britain’s Co-Op Bank, has been ordered to return £184,000 ($247,572) that he stole from a vulnerable friend, even after her death. The Crown Prosecution Service announced on Wednesday that Flowers, aged 75, who is currently serving a three-year prison sentence following his guilty plea to 18 counts of fraud in 2024, exploited the savings and pension of his victim, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Co-Op Bank is a British retail and commercial bank. It provides a range of financial products and services to individuals and businesses.
Flowers, once infamously nicknamed the “crystal Methodist” by the press after a drug sting in 2013, now faces an additional two and a half years of imprisonment if he fails to comply with the repayment order within the next three months. Charles Clayton, a specialist prosecutor within the CPS’s crime division, stated that Flowers had breached the trust placed in him by his friend, taking advantage of her vulnerability.
Clayton further explained that Flowers’ actions resulted in the theft of a substantial sum of money from the victim, ultimately depriving both charities and her niece of the inheritances intended for them. The CPS expressed satisfaction in securing a compensation order aimed at rectifying the injustice.
In 2018, Flowers received a ban from participating in the financial services industry due to integrity concerns, as stated by the Financial Conduct Authority regulator at the time. The FCA’s prohibition notice cited Flowers’ conviction for illegal drug possession and noted his use of a work mobile phone for premium rate chat lines, discussions about illegal drugs, and the exchange of explicit and offensive messages using his work email.
