---
title: 'Accounts Deceivable Podcast Series: Season 2, Episode 1 - Family Affair'
url: https://www.medius.com/videos/finance-insights/accounts-deceivable-podcast-series-season-2-episode-1-family-affair/
updated: 2026-09-30T14:52:30Z
---
# Accounts Deceivable Podcast Series: Season 2, Episode 1 - Family Affair

After stepping in to save his father's business, Nick discovered that blood is not always thicker than water. But when he moved on to start his own business, he soon realized that his son might also be playing a similar game...

###

Transcript

* * *

Speaker 1

You're shaking, you don't know what you're going to read, you want to cry, you don't want to read it, you don't want to look, you want to be in denial because he's your son and he can't do, you can't do this.

Speaker 2

Welcome to season two of Accounts Deceivable, a podcast about a growing category of white collar crime, invoice fraud, and the devastating impact it has on people, companies, and communities.

Through interviews with victims, perpetrators, and experts, this series explains how fraudsters pull off invoice fraud and exposes systemic flaws that stop people from getting justice.

In this episode, we meet Nicholas Humphrey Smith, a small business owner in the cathedral city of Canterbury in Southeast England who lost over £1,000,000 in two financial scams spanning three decades. Worst of all, it wasn't clever con artists or devious employees that stole the money. It was his own father and his own son. This is a story of deceit and betrayal worthy of a Greek tragedy.

It also begs a fundamental question: When it comes to money, is blood really thicker than water?

To the outside world, Cecil Humphrey Smith was an impressive figure: A staunch Roman Catholic, a successful business owner, a leading genealogist, a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and a father of six, he was well connected in the upper echelons of the church and the local community. To his family, though, he was a tyrant and a bully. His son Nick describes his behavior as manipulative, powerful, narcissistic, and abusive.

Nick got married, aged just 19, in order to escape his father, left the family home, started a family, and built a career as a successful sales exec specializing in bathrooms and bedrooms.

Although his wife eventually left him for the next door neighbor, he remained a devoted single dad to his two kids, Michael and Samantha. Life was hard, money was tight, but it was good. However, in the winter of 1989, Nick received a call that would change his life forever.

Speaker 1

And now I get a call from one of the directors of my dad's business saying, Look, dad's not well, and the business is failing really quite badly and he won't want to tell you this but he really needs you back especially with all your sales experience now. Mum's saying I don't think you should Nick because I think you might fall out. But everyone else is saying, Come. So I go down there. You've got to believe because I'm still a Catholic now at this stage, but I haven't broken away from the Catholic church.

Speaker 2

So Nick packed up his family home in Northampton, put Samantha and Michael in the back of the car, and drove two and a half hours around the M25 and down the M2 to Canterbury. As he pulled up in the car and switched off the engine, he felt the panic rising in his chest.

After spending his entire life running away from his father, he was about to go into business with him again. Was he crazy? Do people really change? However, six months later, things were going pretty well.

Speaker 1

I've got a six month target of turning the business round. Within those six months, I'd trebled its turnover, and the business is back up and running. I didn't do anything magical. They were just not doing the basics.

And so I think 'ninety two, summer off, so after two years, dad decides to resign and put me in place as managing director.

And I would only accept that on the conditions that I was the major shareholder, which he agreed.

Speaker 2

For the first time in his life, Nick was CEO, Chairman and major shareholder of a growing business, Achievements Limited, specializing in genealogy and heraldry products and services. During his first two weeks in full control of the company, he made calls to the other shareholders to listen to any concerns and discuss his future plans.

A couple of those phone calls revealed some worrying news.

Speaker 1

I have a talk with the accountant and the company's lawyer. Both of them are a bit concerned that dad decided to resign, just like that. The accountant says, can't tell you too much, but you need to dig. So I phoned up this director in Malta and said, I've been told to dig. Dad's he says, oh, I always thought there was something funny going on. I says, well, you better come over.

Speaker 2

In an old filing cabinet, Nick discovered a black book going back decades. In his dad's scrawled handwriting, it showed records of cash coming into the company's accounts and being siphoned out without ever officially going through its books.

He found evidence of properties belonging to the company being donated, but without records of deeds being officially transferred. It was also clear his father had exploited a charitable arm of the company to commit tax fraud.

Nick hired an ex Scotland Yard detective to investigate who uncovered more shocking news. Despite constantly pleading poverty, his father had private bank accounts with hundreds of thousands of pounds sitting in them. Nick had always wondered how he'd managed to put six kids through private school, own properties, and take expensive holidays. Worse still, the company was the subject of two separate investigations, one by the charity fraud department, the other by the Inland Revenue. Nick called the police and voluntarily offered to assist in their investigation.

Speaker 1

The police are in the building because I've given them permission to seize whatever they wanted because they've already seen the evidence. They just needed more.

Speaker 2

While the police raided the office, something dawned on Nick. He hadn't been given the shares out of the kindness of his father's heart, and his decision to resign wasn't unprompted. His father was going to make him the scapegoat and pin the fraud on his shoulders.

Speaker 1

He thought he could teach me a lesson and I was the scapegoat, 100%. And he had three barristers and a lawyer, I just had a country bumpkin lawyer that I could afford when I sold my antiques.

Speaker 2

Sure enough, at an emergency general meeting on the 11/18/1993, whilst the fraud police were in the building gathering information, the shareholders voted to remove Nick and all the company directors.

Speaker 1

My dad won, and they even got psychiatrists in there because they were trying to make out I was insane. Mum even came around to talk to my wife at the time to say, look, now Nick's going through a breakdown. And she goes, there's nothing wrong with Nick. It's dad. It's what he's doing to to the business. Nick's just trying to save it.

Speaker 2

Angry, betrayed, hurt, Nick stood up, walked out of the boardroom, and back to his private office. He collected up his belongings and then turned around and looked at his empty desk.

Speaker 1

The only thing I left in here is a coat of arms we've designed, an elephant's head with a tusk and the crest was a phoenix rising from the ashes. I left a copy of that in the middle of my table, so dad knew that I'm now I'm gone, but I'm going to rise.

Speaker 2

Nick's father blamed the whole sorry episode on him, accusing him of stealing £500,000 and successfully tainting his reputation amongst his five sisters and his own kids.

The police, who were thrown out of the Achievements Office straight after the board meeting, were unable to secure enough evidence during their raid to prosecute. Once again, Cecil Humphrey Smith had escaped scot free. Sadly, between that fateful meeting and Cecil's death in 2021, the two men hardly spoke again.

Speaker 1

He was an abuser. At his memorial in Canterbury Cathedral, my first ex wife turned around immediately after the last song, and she said, Well, that's not how I remember him.

I remember him trying to throw Maggie out the top floor window.

Speaker 2

In a minute, we'll hear about a new multimillion pound business rising from the ashes of achievements, another astonishing betrayal, and a terrifying arson attack. But before then, a word from our sponsors, Medius.

Speaker 3

Invoice fraud is costing businesses billions of dollars every year. As cyber attacks grow in sophistication, more and more companies are accidentally paying out thousands, even millions in bogus invoices. Medius is an accounts payable software platform that enables finance professionals to combat invoice scams by protecting the integrity of their supplier data, auditing the invoice process in real time, and monitoring for insider fraud. For more information or a demo, visit [www.medius.com](https://www.medius.com/ "www.medius.com").

Speaker 2

Straight after the emergency board meeting in November 1993, Nick walked out of the Achievements office and into the local tavern. It had been a long day and he needed a pint. To his surprise, a group of ex employees were waiting for him. They had a plan.

Speaker 1

There's 20 members of staff in the pub waiting for me to come in, and they're saying, but we don't want to stay.

We want to go. And we're not staying with him. We want to go. And I'm going, well, I'm going back up to Northampton.

I'm not staying here. And anyway, if we were to set up another business, we need money. I've lost and used up all my money on lawyers. I haven't got any more money.

So I've got to move up, sell my house, move up, I'll have some money. And then one ex director says, well, I've got a big job coming in soon. I might be able to put in 50 ks.

The ex bank manager says, I can give you 5. Someone else says, I'll give you two.

And I go, oh, well, okay. Let me think about it. What do we call it? Giles says, well, I've always thought of writing a play called Ancestors. Why don't we call it Ancestors?

Ancestors was born.

Speaker 2

By the beginning of 2008, Ancestors of Dover, a designer and manufacturer of heritage products, was turning over £1,500,000 with 20 staff and counted some of The UK's biggest brands, Hamleys, Harrods, the British Museum, English Heritage and Westminster Abbey as its customers.

Business was booming. Founder and CEO, Nick Humphrey Smith, was enjoying the thrill of running a successful business even if he was finding the workload difficult to handle.

One weekend, Nick's son, Michael, came around for Sunday dinner. As his wife, Anne, prepared roast chicken, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy, Nick opened a bottle of burgundy, poured his son a glass, and asked him how things were going.

Michael sat back in his chair, let out a deep sigh, then poured his heart out. He was struggling to find a job, short on cash, and worried that he wouldn't be able to make this month's rent.

Speaker 1

So Anne suggests that we offer him a job in sales because we're because otherwise I'm doing it all. So we do. And actually it's the biggest mistake of my life. One of my biggest mistakes.

Speaker 2

The two men had a complicated relationship, a problem that could be traced back to, you guessed it, Nick's father, Cecil. For years, Cecil doted on Michael, providing him with money and allowing him to live illegally in one of the houses owned by his charity.

He dripped a relentless stream of poison about Nick into Michael's ear, driving a wedge between them. Little wonder they were estranged for more than a decade. However, the first few months of Michael's employment were promising.

Nick appreciated the extra help he provided dealing with suppliers, quotes, invoices, and handling the distribution of products, and even started enjoying the additional time they were spending together.

Speaker 1

I'm taking him away with me. I go to Thailand an awful lot because jewelry, a lot of jewelry design was done over there and made over there. And I'm sourcing. So I'm doing trade shows in Hong Kong and then Thailand.

And he'd come with me because I'm trying to show him, and I'm going to China. So I'm trying to build him up. He's not the brightest kettle of fish either. But I'm enjoying time.

I would introduce him as my best friend, business partner, my son. That's how I used to introduce him. And that is honestly how I really felt. I thought, I finally cracked it.

We're having fun.

Speaker 2

But as the years passed, the gloss started to come off. Employees complained about Michael's short fuse and hot temper. Staff turnover rose amid accusations of bullying. By 2017, sales had started to fall. Orders from some of the company's biggest and most loyal customers were drying up, and despite Michael constantly talking up his new business prowess, nothing tangible materialized.

Nick had to make a painful round of redundancies. Then it happened.

Speaker 1

Sales are down. I know he's lazy, but we're running out of a particular product that we bring in the component part from China and I'm wanting a quote. Well I know Michael's been talking to this supplier from us for a while and it's easier that I don't have to do everything so I've already asked him for a quote At least two weeks before, I know the supplier's normally within days she's come back with a price. And he hasn't given it to me. So I actually storm into Mike's room, having asked him God knows how many times. Said, Mike, you must have that quote by now. I have got to have it now.

By the time I go back into my office, I want that quote. So send it to me. And lo and behold, it's on my email when I get up and sit back down within thirty seconds or a minute, maybe it is.

And I open the quote, and I see the price, and I think, that's fine. Right. I'll print it out so that I can raise the purchase order. And it's print out, you look at it. And you and now I've I've just seen at the top, oh, it's not made out to Ancestors.

It's made out to, oh, Burnt Toast Solutions.

Speaker 2

Nick assumed the supplier had inadvertently sent him the wrong quote, so he sat down grumpily in his chair and started writing a curt email.

But midway through, he stopped, took a sip of coffee, and scratched his head. Something didn't feel right. This quote was from a trusted, reliable supplier that rarely made mistakes, and the parts described in it matched the stock he had requested. After a minute or so, he opened his web browser.

Speaker 1

I'd like to know. I'm just curious. I wanna know who owns Burnt Toast Solutions because I'm curious about anything. So I type in Burnt Toast Solutions on company's house, and Michael's gone and set up this business back in April. And he's the sole director.

Speaker 2

Head spinning and stomach churning, Nick walked unsteadily downstairs to the office of his company secretary, Tim, and invited him out for a sandwich. In the cafe, they started going through every possible scenario. Maybe it was a mix up or an innocent mistake. However, after a while, they realized there was a plausible, if harrowing, explanation. Michael was running a shadow business inside Ancestors, using their office, equipment and suppliers, siphoning off customers, sending invoices from and diverting funds into Burnt Toast Solutions' bank account.

Speaker 1

You're shaking, hair's on your hands and your arms and all down your back, if you've got any, they've all gone up. You need a drink. I'm not an alcoholic, need a drink.

You want to cry because he hasn't said anything. Then you start to think maybe he's wanting to surprise me because we had talked about setting another company up that could compete against us but as us, because we were doing promotional goods, but to the trade, but we could actually go direct. But if you sell to the trade, can't go direct as well. And I thought, well, maybe not if I'm wrong, and it is up to something.

Speaker 2

Nick and Tim headed back into the office and called their employment lawyers, but after an hour or so on the phone, it became clear they currently had insufficient evidence to prove wrongdoing. It was Friday night, and both men were shattered. They locked up, jumped in their cars, and drove home.

That same weekend, Nick headed back into the office. The whole saga had completely dominated his Friday, and as a result, his in tray was overflowing.

Speaker 1

Sunday, I come in to do some other work and think, okay, right, I finished that. Oh, yeah, right. I'll go on Michael's computer.

And I type in the word burnt toast.

And nothing's coming up. So I'm phoning up Tim, and I say, it's all right, mate. There's nothing oh, it's taken a few minutes to get ahold of him. And all of a sudden, the screen's now loading up with all the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of emails. Burnt toast.

Speaker 2

Nick told Tim he would call him back. He started opening the emails and found dozens of messages from former Ancestors' clients who were now doing business with Burnt Toast Solutions.

The pattern was the same every time. Michael would offer an inbound prospect or current client a 20% cut in costs if they shifted their business to his new company. He would then use his dad's premises, staff, machinery, and couriers to complete the job, but instead of sending the customer an Ancestor's invoice, he would send one from Burnt Toast instead, with his own account details at the bottom. One email read, I have recently set up a new side business. Please find a lower quote attached.

Paul Ellis at accounts payable software company Medius explains more.

Speaker 4

Establishing illegitimate vendors like Burn Toast Solutions is a common way to commit invoice fraud, simply because it's an easy win for criminals and because checks are rarely carried out to determine the legitimacy of incoming invoices. As a result, Nicholas's son was able to manipulate internal accounting practices to line his own pockets.

Speaker 2

After half an hour or so, Nick smashed his hands down on the desk, his knuckles white with rage. He estimated Michael had stolen tens, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds from him. He was devastated, defrauded by his own son, his own flesh and blood. On Monday, Nick and Tim immediately summoned Michael to the boardroom and shut the door behind him.

Speaker 1

Is there anything you want to tell me? I must have said it four, five, six times. And then he's starting to get a little bit agitated. And I says, well, okay, you don't want to tell me, so I'll have to tell you.

But you'll have to tell me about this. And I turned over the piece of paper that I printed out with his business card on.

Do you want to tell me about this? Well, there's nothing to tell, is there? I mean, what do you mean there's nothing to tell? Well, I've got another business. So?

Well, one, you can't just go and have another business without informing us. But two, you can't have a business taking our customers and using our suppliers, using our equipment, and using our staff.

That's just well, I can. I can. And I anyway, I'm a distributor, and you're you're a manufacturer.

Speaker 2

Michael tried to argue, proclaiming his innocence and arguing that his side business was nothing to do with his father, but Nick wasn't going to be manipulated that easily.

Speaker 1

So I'm saying, we're going to have to suspend you, and I'll need the the card off you. He gives me the credit card, and I said, I'm gonna have to have your phone.

It's my phone. I says, well, actually, it's not your phone.

Yes, is. I says, no. It's our phone. We've paid for it under contract. It's in our contract. We need you for it. You're not having it.

And he's got it up like this. So I go to get it.

And we're struggling with it. And he moves his thumb up, he goes and he touches my hand. You're abusing me. You're abusing me.

So I let go. And I says, Okay, Tim, phone the police then because we're going to have to have he's not leaving until we've had the phone. Alright, you have the phone then says Michael and throws it on the table and then goes to walk out. I say, okay, and we'll send you a letter as to when we want you back in after we've carried out our investigation.

Speaker 2

Minutes after storming out, Michael walked back into the office.

Speaker 1

And five minutes later, comes back in.

Can I have some money for the bus then?

Sorry. It was funny. Can I have some money for the bus? Because my ticket's on my phone.

Speaker 2

An inspection of Michael's phone uncovered the depth of the deception. WhatsApp messages between he and his wife showed it had been carefully planned for months, with the pair hiding the evidence of their treachery every time Nick went over to his son's home.

Speaker 1

We'd gone to a meeting and we're coming back late. We haven't eaten. And he messages his wife saying, What are we having for dinner tonight? Oh, tacos.

Is there enough for dad? Oh gosh, do we really want dad coming? I'd have to hide all the things and put them up into your room. Oh, right.

Well, I haven't got very long to hide the evidence.

Speaker 2

An experienced company director, Nick was acutely aware of his fiduciary responsibilities to the business and its shareholders.

He was also aware that a father investigating his own son represented a significant conflict of interests and a potential breach of the code of ethics. As much as he wanted to stay involved, he decided to hand full control of the case to Tim and recused himself from the proceedings.

The following Friday, under professional advice, Michael was dismissed for gross misconduct. Straight afterwards, Nick boarded a plane and traveled to Thailand for a work trip. He was looking forward to a week away from the drama unfolding back in Kent. However, while he was digging through his bag for mosquito spray, he felt something unfamiliar. It was Michael's phone. He sighed and went to put it back in his bag, but not before he noticed a WhatsApp message on the screen from Nick's estranged ex wife.

Why was she messaging Michael?

Speaker 1

She sent a text to him. She says, I hear you've left your dad. Let's get together so we can compare notes and get him.

Speaker 2

Get him? Thought Nick. What does that mean?

A few days later, whilst working in his hotel in Bangkok, Nick received a harrowing call from his next door neighbor back in The UK. His house back home was on fire, completely engulfed in flames.

Three fire engines were on the scene, and an entire section of his street back in Folkston had been cordoned off. Nick rushed back home and found his house badly damaged. He walked through the ash covered remains in tears as he encountered treasured possessions, paintings, antiques, furniture that were completely ruined. When he reached his bedroom, though, something caught his eye.

Speaker 1

My clothes and my partner's clothes are all cut.

The curtains that my ex made are cut. My the teddy bear that was on the bed that Paula gave me, which is my partner now, is stabbed to death. A picture of us is smashed on the floor.

Speaker 2

Nick immediately thought back to his ex wife's text, let's get him. He also cast his mind back to the day the fire was discovered. At about 1AM UK time, a few hours before the blaze started, he had received a missed call from a British phone number. At the time, he thought nothing of it. Now he had a theory. His ex wife had called him, heard an international dial tone, worked out he was still in Thailand, and that his house back in Folkston was empty.

The police did not take his concerns about an arson attack seriously until he paid a forensics expert to show it had been started deliberately.

Eventually, a 38 year old female suspect was brought into custody.

However, owing to numerous police errors, including a failure to collect evidence at the crime scene, she was released without charge. Nick filed two complaints to the independent office for police conduct that were upheld, but this was scant consolation. To this day, no one has ever been formally charged for the incident.

Back at the office, Tim had assembled a damning portfolio of evidence against Michael. In the months that followed, the crime was reported to the police, then referred to the Crown Prosecution Service. Eventually, Michael was arrested and charged with fraud. In the lead up to the trial, Nick struggled to make sense of it all, the betrayal, the loss of his son, and the fire that destroyed his home. By the time he returned to work at Ancestors, the company was in the doldrums, fatally wounded by Michael's fraud. The COVID-19 pandemic was the final straw. Unable to win back its stolen customers or pay its staff, the company was sold in July 2020 for just £1.

Then the nightmare got even worse. In August 2022, four years after the crime took place, Nick was called as a witness for the prosecution in Michael's trial at Canterbury Crown Court. He would have to testify against his own son.

Speaker 1

And how did you feel?

Mouth dry, you're shaky, and you don't know what to expect.

You first got the prosecution barrister who you've never met in your life because I have not taken him to court. The Crown have taken him to court. Got to make this very clear. It's the Crown.

It's not the company. So the Crown have decided through the CPS that there is a case to answer for fraud. And so I can't talk. I've never spoken to this barrister before, never been in court like this before.

And they're sort of gentle. When the next day comes or when the defense start, it was a barrage of, I suggest that you're a bully. I suggest that you're manipulative. I suggest you're this.

I suggest you're this.

Speaker 2

In September 2022, a jury unanimously found Michael Humphrey Smith guilty of stealing over £43,000 from Ancestors of Dover Limited, although Nick estimates the actual figure is closer to £400,000. Six months later, standing in the dock wearing a brown suit jacket, Michael was visibly distressed when the judge handed him a thirty month prison sentence.

Reflecting on the fraudulent activities of his father and his son, Nick has somber advice for business owners.

Speaker 1

I used to always trust everyone, and I believe that you can't run a business without trust.

What I've learned is what most probably somebody like Sir Alan Sugar learned years ago, you actually can't trust anybody.

Therefore, put software on their computers so that you can see what the keyboard strikes are and what their screenshots are. Put CCT cameras in. Be vigilant. Look at trends. That's how you spot this.

Speaker 2

Paul Ellis from Medius believes technology can play a key role too.

Speaker 4

Invoice fraud is one of the fastest growing crimes in The UK. As fraud thrives, the focus of business leaders needs to be on shoring up their accounting processes, including the use of smart technology.

We're in an age where fraudsters are smarter than ever, so businesses need to be smarter or risk suffering the same fate as Nick.

Speaker 2

Although he is devastated that his son is in jail, Nick doesn't regret his decision to report either of the crimes.

Speaker 1

I run a business, and I'm sorry, but your fiduciary duty comes above any family issues, which it did when I ran Achievements Limited and my father was defrauding.

You don't have a choice. You take on that responsibility and whoever defrauds, you have to deal with it accordingly. Otherwise, you're in jail potentially.

Speaker 2

He also strongly disagrees with the suggestion that as a father, he bears some responsibility for his son's catastrophic choices.

Speaker 1

I think individuals have to take responsibility for their own actions.

No matter how you've been brought up or who's brought you up, it's still your own decision to do what you do.

So I can't blame my father. I can't blame myself. Michael's done it off his own volition.

It's his fault. There is nobody else.

Otherwise, who do I blame for how I've turned out? And all the hell that one's gone through, do you blame your dad? Well. But you get on, you wipe yourself down, shake yourself down, and you get on with life. You can't go around blaming anybody but yourself. It's all your own fault.

Speaker 2

For more chilling stories from victims and fraudsters alike, check out the Accounts Deceivable podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever else you get your audio fix.

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