flying fiddle maybe

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.

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

 

[StickyFingers]

Or alternatively he is one of the few Army Officers who actually gives a 5h1t about his troops and the ever decreasing standards of conduct within his organisation and being strong of character and exemplary standards has whistleblown to the detriment of his own career????

Nah Pure Karen

He tried to rope Lt Col Lentaigne in but he was having none of it:

Lt Col Lentaigne said he was 'not particularly mindful' to enquire about the occupancy situation of a high-ranking General and was not concerned about it.

Translated "Yea, I like my career, I'm not getting involved in this".

 

[ERT]

JSP 752 is the authoritative policy and guidance document designed for use by all Service Personnel, the Chain of Command and specialist administration staff to determine entitlement to expenses and allowances. It is important that all Service Personnel remain aware of current regulations for expenses and allowances and they should keep themselves informed of any policy changes that may affect them.

Thats the front page of the JSP. Its a guidance document...

Usual excuses...

• "i didnt know any better"
• "The JSP is so confusing"
• "i explained to Private / Corporal XYZ what i was doing, they said it was fine"
• "i told HR about my changes of circumstances"
• "why didnt HR spot the problem, isnt that what we employ them for?"

However, what gets them is

14.0108. Responsibilities. Responsibilities for those involved in CEA are as follows:

a. Claimant. The CEA claimant must:

(1) Ensure that they have read and understood these regulations prior to submitting each claim seeking advice from their Unit HR if necessary;
(2) Ensure that they have read and understood the Self-Service User Guide (SSUG) on JPA before submitting a CEA EC on JPA.
(3) Ensure that they and their child satisfy the eligibility criteria (see Paragraphs 14.0113/14.0114) throughout the duration of claiming CEA;
(4) Inform their Unit HR immediately of any changes to their personal circumstances at the time they occur.

The claimant accepts that failure to satisfy these responsibilities may lead to forfeiture of CEA and potential recovery of CEA received for their child’s current stage of education (see Paragraph 14.0124). The claimant must also accept that deliberate abuse of the regulations may lead to disciplinary action or criminal proceedings.

Was the intentions deliberate?

 

[Rigga]

To be honest, this sort of senior management stuff isnt uncommon in any walk of life. Ive seen very senior police officers sacked for misuse of funds and fraudulent claims. One guy bought his wife’s presents and family holidays on the firms credit card - apparently with no intent of paying it back!

 

[Oldstacker]

You either follow the flag as a family, with all the pain that comes with that choice, and get the compensation linked to this or you live separate lives and claim the different compensation that provides.

Which was, kind of, my point. The services provide the 'compensation' through allowances for the extra costs where families, especially wives, follow the flag and contribute to the service community. If they choose not to do that then they shouldn't get the allowance. Trouble is, so many wives these days choose to follow their own careers (which is fine) but then expect their husbands to be able to still claim top whack on allowances which, ultimately, are intended for serving personnel whose wives have given up their own independence to support the services and other service families.

 

[Tin basher]

Another Army bod on the fiddle (allegedly) this time boarding school money circa £39K

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

Guilty and booted out

Major, 47, who defrauded Army out of £13,000 sacked from the forces

Major Lloyd Hamilton was sacked from the forces after he defrauded the Army by illegally claiming private school fees. His barrister blamed it on a 'mid-life crisis' at Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire .

www.dailymail.co.uk

Dismissed from the Army. Judge Advocate General Alan Large also imposed a three month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. Judge Large said: ........... when you consider the issues they are so serious that you must be dismissed from the service.

 

[Oldstacker]

Guilty and booted out

Major, 47, who defrauded Army out of £13,000 sacked from the forces

Major Lloyd Hamilton was sacked from the forces after he defrauded the Army by illegally claiming private school fees. His barrister blamed it on a 'mid-life crisis' at Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire .

www.dailymail.co.uk

Dismissed from the Army. Judge Advocate General Alan Large also imposed a three month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. Judge Large said: ........... when you consider the issues they are so serious that you must be dismissed from the service.

IIRC (but could be wrong as i haven't checked), this case was more clear cut in that he was in Cyprus unaccompanied whereas his estranged(?) wife was in the UK & had custody...... That was always going to be a lost battle

 

[Barch]

Major General N Welch's Court Martial starts Monday 08 March 2021.

I wonder how long the trial will last.

I wonder if CMs have an early stack on Fridays so that the unnacompanied folk can get away before the traffic builds up.

 

[busby1971]

Seems to have his defence ready to go:

An Army rule allegedly broken by a senior officer accused of lying to claim £48,000 to send his children to boarding schools was not being strictly enforced, a court was told.

Major General Nick Welch, 57, denies falsely claiming the allowance. The rule states a soldier would be ineligible to claim it if their spouse was away from the military home for more than 90 days a year. The prosecution suggests his wife was.

Bulford Military Court was read an Ministry of Defence email that stated: “We will introduce flexibility to allow [absences] beyond the 90-day point. In practice, we are already doing this.”

Probably come down to where her home was, and what was the reason for the absences, I would also guess that to be successful that the Officer did seek clarification on his particular circumstances, so that flexibility could be agreed in advance, rather than be presumed.

 

[muttywhitedog]

Seems to have his defence ready to go:

Major General Nick Welch, 57, denies falsely claiming the allowance. The rule states a soldier would be ineligible to claim it if their spouse was away from the military home for more than 90 days a year. The prosecution suggests his wife was.

Bulford Military Court was read an Ministry of Defence email that stated: “We will introduce flexibility to allow [absences] beyond the 90-day point. In practice, we are already doing this.”

I would imagine this was to permit accompanying spouses whose job required them to travel extensively, not so that the spouse could remain in their marital home, just down the road from their kids very expensive private school.

However, rules are always open to interpretation once the word "flexibility" appears.

 

[Tin basher]

Major General Nick Welch, 57, denies falsely claiming the allowance.

Guilty M'Lud says the Mail but no mention of sentence or sanctions he may face.

Major General is found guilty of fraudulently claiming nearly £50,000

Major General Nick Welch, 57, claimed the funds to send two of his children to £37,000-a-year and £22,500-a-year private boarding schools in Dorset, Bulford Military Court heard.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[busby1971]

He's already left so I'd expect a fine and suspended sentence probably, although for some reason I think that a trip to MCTC would be wonderful to witness.

I guess lying to the panel didn't warm him to them.

Impact on his career and reputation would far exceed any punishment handed down by the panel.

 

[Tin basher]

for some reason I think that a trip to MCTC would be wonderful to witness..

No sure where he going to serve his sentence but it's 21 months in the slammer for him

Major General is jailed for 21 months

Major general Nick Welch has today become the most senior officer to be convicted at a UK court martial in over 200 years for cheating taxpayers out of nearly £50,000 in private school fees.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[busby1971]

Fraud is a criminal offence, still surprised he’s being banged up.

 

[Talk Wrench]

Fraud is a criminal offence, still surprised he’s being banged up.

He's getting some proper punishment, but can anyone name one single MP that was sent to the slammer when the expenses scandal was front page news?

 

[busby1971]

He's getting some proper punishment, but can anyone name one single MP that was sent to the slammer when the expenses scandal was front page news?

Off topic but look here, there’s been a few, being Civilian jail nobody really serves the sentence they’re given.

Expenses MPs and their sentences: how long each served

Four MPs and two members of the House of Lords have so far been jailed as a result of the expenses scandal. All have since been released. Here are the details of their cases.

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[vim_fuego]

No sure where he going to serve his sentence but it's 21 months in the slammer for him

Major General is jailed for 21 months

Major general Nick Welch has today become the most senior officer to be convicted at a UK court martial in over 200 years for cheating taxpayers out of nearly £50,000 in private school fees.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Rumour has it he’s off to MCTC.

 

[Barch]

Rumour has it he’s off to MCTC.

In their own words ...

The MCTC is an establishment that provides corrective training for those servicemen and women sentenced to periods of detention; it is not a prison.

Awaiting transfer to HM Prison, having been sentenced to imprisonment by Courts-Martial.

I reckon he will go straight to a 'Category C' Civil Prison close to his home and will be out of custody in time for Christmas.

 

[Tin basher]

Rumour has it he’s off to MCTC.

The ever accurate daily Mail says

".......the custodial sentence is to be served in a civilian prison, Welch was retrospectively dismissed from the Army, meaning he will not be able to benefit from the rank of retired major general. He was also ordered to pay back the fraudulently claimed money."

So he could well be off to MCTC

 

[Oldstacker]

I do wonder how the conversations between him & his wife are going...... Most of us ex-service types have had (or have known people who have had) conversations about whether our families should follow us on postings or stay at a stable home while we bean-steal. When some of those postings were good career moves or fulfilled ambitions but bad for family life then those conversations were much harder.

I wonder whether they had that conversation about him becoming ACGS and moving to London - was she unwilling to be the single parent 'at home' with 2 kids and a career but equally unwilling to give up or handicap her career to move with him and therefore 'they' decided to leave the kids in boarding school but she stayed in the family home while he used his MQ address to claim the fees? While his name was on the claim &, therefore, he is the legally guilty one being banged up, does should she share some of the blame for him making the claim?

Thoughts?

 

[muttywhitedog]

He'd been claiming CEA since 2007, so was very familiar with the rules. Put simply, he thought his rank allowed him to do whatever he liked, including stealing from the taxpayer, and nobody would have the balls to question it.

Whoever did have the balls should be the next CDS, instead of these spineless yes men & women that frequent the MOD's corridors.