A BASILDON manager has been jailed for six years after admitting bribery.

Lee Wylie, 48, has been put behind bars after accepting bribes of up to £800,000 while working as a manager for Lakehouse.

Wylie worked for the same contractor that installed fire alarms for Grenfell Tower, and abused his position as a divisional director between 2012 and 2014.

He accepted bribes from sub-contractors in order to guarantee them work for a homes company in Hackney.

He would then launder the money through different firms, one of which was found to be fake to purely launder the money.

He went onto lead a lavish lifestyle with the cash.

Wylie, of Royston Avenue, Basildon, admitted bribery and was jailed at Southwark Crown Court on Monday along with his co-defendants who were involved in the scam.

On July 5 last year, Richard Lee, 45, of Prentice Place, Witham and Stephen Ellis, 51, of Rennie Walk, Maldon, admitted bribery and theft.

They were each sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. Both were ordered to pay £10,000 each in costs.

On September 2, Mark Middleton, 52, of Beech Avenue, Ruislip admitted bribery and theft. He was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to pay £5,000 in costs.

On October 30, Constantinos Polycarpou, 42, of Barnet in London, was found guilty of bribery. He was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to pay £40,000 in costs.

On January 13, Leslie Ratty, 68, of Bradford Street, Braintree, admitted money laundering. He was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. He was ordered to pay £500 in costs.

The sentence follows an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Complex Fraud Team after a referral was received from Hackney Council in July 2014.

Confiscation proceedings against Wylie are ongoing.