A THREE-year police investigation into an alleged £1.3 million fraud by Minehead man Darren MacKenzie will conclude next month when he appears for sentencing in Taunton Crown Court.

MacKenzie, of Fownes Road, Alcombe, entered an indicative guilty plea in Taunton Magistrates Court earlier this month to fraud by abuse of his position with pharmacy and property business John Ware Ltd over an eight-year period.

The company runs a chain of pharmacies from Bristol to Exeter, including in Alcombe and Porlock, and also manages a number of houses in multiple occupation in the Minehead area.

MacKenzie, 41, worked briefly in Alcombe Pharmacy and then for the company’s head office until he was sacked in 2019 when the fraud came to light.

The fraud was said to have happened between January, 2011, and October, 2019.

Since then, a team of police and forensic auditors have been probing his flamboyant lifestyle and the sources of his apparent wealth, culminating in this month’s prosecution.

Company owner Max Punni said: “He endangered dozens of jobs throughout the region to fuel his grandiose and exorbitant lifestyle while hangers- on enjoyed luxury gifts, meals, social events, and foreign holidays. It is terrible what he did to me. It has been life changing.

“You get fraud cases all day long but this one was particularly audacious.”

Mr Punni said there was a time when it was feared the fraud might bring down the business. He said: “People thought they were going to lose their jobs, but we are okay now, thank God. We have come out of it like a phoenix.”

Sentencing of MacKenzie, who faces a lengthy jail term, is due to take place on Friday, November 11.