A CROOKED accountant who stole more than half a million pounds from a Stourbridge church and religious charity has been ordered to pay back £34,000 after money was traced to a pension pot.

Stephen Methuen, a former volunteer treasurer and accountant for Amblecote Christian Centre, was sentenced to five years behind bars back in October 2012 for embezzling more than £400,000 from the Brettell Lane church's charity funds plus more than £100,000 from the Stourbridge Christian International Relief Mission which was set up to help children in poverty in the Philippines.

Methuen, who stole the money over a six-year period, was initially found penniless and was ordered to pay back just £1.

But an investigation to confiscate his assets continued and the 60-year-old, previously from Wordsley, was ordered to pay back £34,000, which officers tracked to a pension pot in his name, when he was brought back to Wolverhampton Crown Court.

The West Midlands Asset Confiscation Enforcement Team, part of the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit, pursued the cash after his sentence and worked with the Crown Prosecution Service to bring Methuen, now living in Rubery, back before the court.

Vera Williams, who led the investigation, said: "This just shows how committed we are to ensuring people return assets they have gained as a result of crime.

"Although Methuen was jailed back in October 2012 we have remained focussed on this case and this is a great result that will see tens of thousands of pounds returned to the church."

Adrian Lowe, from Amblecote Christian Centre, added: "This is another example of the great support that police have given us as a church family.

"Both the team that led the original investigation and now the West Midlands Asset Confiscation Enforcement Team have been exemplary in the way they have handled this case.

"We are grateful for the service and support to us as a church family."

Methuen pleaded guilty in 2012 to six charges of falsifying documents to conceal payments being made to his personal and business accounts between 2003 and 2009. He also admitted six charges of falsifying accounts for the Relief Mission to conceal payments to himself and four charges of cheating HM Revenue and Customs.

The court was told at the time that he had used the cash he took to prop up his ailing accountancy business and "do the best" for his wife and step-children.