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All allegedly of course (for now)
"An Army doctor fraudulently booked thousands of pounds worth of flights to visit his family, a court heard today. Lieutenant Colonel Chris Baird-Clarke was moved from his job in Scotland to a new role in England assisting new recruits, but was unhappy with the posting. A court martial heard that even after he was told he could not claim an allowance for the flights, he continued to book the travel..........The prosecutor said Lt Col Baird-Clarke, 'just wanted to fly home at public expense so came up with a ploy to achieve his aim.'"

As a Lt Col surely his salary would be sufficient to pay for the odd internal UK flights extra to his permitted travel order allowance and he isn't the first amongst us to get a unwanted cr@p posting. Perhaps there's more to this than meets the eye, has he not heeded "advice" given quietly beforehand, is he arrogant, unpopular or just a self entitled c0ck who is for now obviously innocent of all charges.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Army doctor 'fraudulently booked £2,200 of flights to visit family'

Lt Col Chris Baird-Clarke was moved from his job in Scotland to a new role in England but was unhappy with the posting so spent Army funds on flights back home, a court heard today.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk
 
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Was he booking them himself and claiming on JPA or was a Travel Cell booking them on his behalf? Either way, there should have been a Junior Officer or SNCO with a backbone that should have contacted the Lt Col and explained that he was mistaking his rank with their authority.

I had to use that phrase once as a Unit Auditor with a Regt Wg Cdr who thought buying a suitcase full of food at Marks & Spencers, Kings Cross station every Friday afternoon prior to his 50 minute train to Peterborough was an acceptable use of public funds!
 
A Lt Col "assisting with new recruits"? At that rank surely an OC or 2 i/c a school or possibly a permanent position on an interview board. In any case at that rank and that sort of role he should a) have known better and b) should have been whiter than white anyway.
No sympathy....
 
Not sure what they’re going to do to him, he’s already left, probably with a good pension and I’d guess he’s earning a similar wage on the outside, sending him to jail would be a little disproportionate.
 
Save themselves time and hassle and tell him to pay the money back!!! [Can they do this??????????] For the sake of a few thousand it's probably costing more running the Court Martial. Not a fan of this way as people like him should be made an example of but from a business and practical of view it makes more sense in my view.
 
Rugby-Jock-Lad said:
Save themselves time and hassle and tell him to pay the money back!!! [Can they do this??????????] For the sake of a few thousand it's probably costing more running the Court Martial. Not a fan of this way as people like him should be made an example of but from a business and practical of view it makes more sense in my view.
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That would give any future fraudster the opportunity to pay back if they get caught. There has to be a punishment for wrongdoing !!
 
Barch said:
That would give any future fraudster the opportunity to pay back if they get caught. There has to be a punishment for wrongdoing !!
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Was it a mistake or misdemeanour, that's what the court will decide.

For every individual caught there's probably more people getting away with other stuff, there does need to be deterrent.
 
Iirc, they cannot take away his pension but could fine or imprison him...... A fine is more likely imho (if found guilty, of course)
 
It is very rare for them to touch pensions ie already earned £££'s. I have seen it on 1 or 2 occasions ie a MPGS soldier, Regular Service AFPS kept, MPGS AFPS removed.

Fraud is taken very seriously within the MOD and the amounts do not matter, fraud is fraud.

He's out now, money recovered and fined would do the job. Imprisonment would send a message, but no doubt welfare reasons card would be played.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Corporal sacked from British army after £15,000 flight fraud

Corporal Audrey Urbina, pictured, was today dismissed from the British Army and ordered to serve nine months detention after she was found guilty of fraud at a military tribunal in Wiltshire.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk

Sentencing her to nine months in detention and sacking her from the British Army, Assistant Judge Advocate Alan Large launched a scathing attack on Ministry of Defence procedures which left it vulnerable to such as 'unsophisticated fraud'.
 
Dan_Brown said:
It is very rare for them to touch pensions ie already earned £££'s. I have seen it on 1 or 2 occasions ie a MPGS soldier, Regular Service AFPS kept, MPGS AFPS removed.

Fraud is taken very seriously within the MOD and the amounts do not matter, fraud is fraud.

He's out now, money recovered and fined would do the job. Imprisonment would send a message, but no doubt welfare reasons card would be played.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Corporal sacked from British army after £15,000 flight fraud

Corporal Audrey Urbina, pictured, was today dismissed from the British Army and ordered to serve nine months detention after she was found guilty of fraud at a military tribunal in Wiltshire.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk

Sentencing her to nine months in detention and sacking her from the British Army, Assistant Judge Advocate Alan Large launched a scathing attack on Ministry of Defence procedures which left it vulnerable to such as 'unsophisticated fraud'.
Click to expand...
Glad to hear it, as one of my last duties in uniform was to report two individuals for submitting claims for exactly the same items (including all the road tolls & fuel for their shared hire vehicle).

I always advocated claiming everything you were entitled to, but despised those who claimed for things they clearly were not entitled to. The Regt Officer I referred to earlier probably sensed my venom and willingness to use my authority if he didnt back down very quickly. The two individuals I reported tried to blag and lie their way out of a very deep hole.
 
busby1971 said:
Not sure what they’re going to do to him, he’s already left, probably with a good pension and I’d guess he’s earning a similar wage on the outside, sending him to jail would be a little disproportionate.
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I don' see what is so disproportionate about applying the appropriate sentence to someone who is guilty of a criminal offence. It's not as though he's a teenager or someone with a mental illness. The man obviously knew he was chancing it; so him and his family, who benefitted from his fraud, albeit probably innocently, need to suffer the consequences.
 
Most employers wouldn’t chase a couple of grand as the legal costs would outstrip this by a considerable margin, they would sack someone though.

If he’s still using his rank, as a prestige thing, then the harshest punishment could be to reduce his rank to Capt, as at this level you shouldn’t be using it as a vet and those who would be impressed by this, know this.
 
Another Army bod on the fiddle (allegedly) this time boarding school money circa £39K

www.dailymail.co.uk

Major 'defrauded MoD out of £40k to pay school fees', court hears

Royal Engineer Lloyd Hamilton allegedly misused taxpayers' money to pay for their education while he was stationed in Cyprus.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk

he said "So there are a lot of indications that work are looking into.................if this leads to me being investigated I will be f*****g fuming."

I guess he's quite cross at the moment then.
 
Barch said:
Will they ever learn ?
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Probably not, their individual arrogance makes them believe they are above the rules and regulations that the lowlife squirming around in primordial ouze at the bottom of the pond must follow. Their high position on the greasy pole perhaps leads them to think the rules exist to stop underlings fleecing the system whereas they are, by dint of position, entitled.
 
From my own experience I think about 90% of people will break the rules at some point, from taking home a ream of paper through to false claims, fraud and steeling, rank/seniority is not an indicator of integrity.

Often called upon to find out the art of the possible, within the rules of course
 
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