Lt Col jailed for fraud.

[Al R]

I wonder if the pension will be forfeited in some form.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9709395/Lieutenant-Colonel-one-senior-army-officers-jailed.html

[Rigga]

I thought he resigned some while ago - and ensured his pension was paid...

[air pig]

I thought he resigned some while ago - and ensured his pension was paid...


Different case, but I suspect they both wondered where it all went wrong as the cell doors slammed shut in their new accommodation. First nights in somewhere not very nice until they are assessed.Major General Nick Welch jailed over £50,000 army fraud
Larisa Brown, Defence Editor
Friday March 26 2021, 4.20pm, The Timeshttps://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2Fb043a3d6-8e25-11eb-8f69-0367b6f4fca7.jpg?crop=1500%2C844%2C0%2C0&resize=1180Nick Welch is the highest-ranking officer to face a court martial in more than 200 years
BEN GURR FOR THE TIMES
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SaveThe highest-ranking officer to face a court martial in more than 200 years has been jailed for 21 months after he defrauded the army out of nearly £50,000 in private school fees.

Major General Nick Welch, 57, who was awarded an OBE, was also ordered to repay the money and was retrospectively dismissed from the army, having already left in 2018.

Sentencing him today, a judge said that due to his rank he must be imprisoned to help preserve discipline and morale in the military and that “the higher you rank, the more important it is that you uphold the values and standards of the army”.

After leaving the army in 2018, Welch got a job as the chief operating officer at Arts University Bournemouth. The university said in a statement after his jail sentence that he had left his position with “immediate effect”.

The four-week trial at Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire heard how Welch abused the continuity of education allowance (CEA) to send two of his children to boarding schools in Dorset until he was reported by a colonel neighbour.

Welch, who was assistant chief of the general staff based at the Ministry of Defence's headquarters in London, had claimed he couldn’t afford the school fees, even on his salary of £120,000 a year.

Meanwhile, his wife Charlotte claimed the colonel who reported them must have done so as he was “daunted” by her husband's rank. The court heard the stress of the investigation would cost him his civilian job.

At the sentencing hearing, Welch and his wife remained stony-faced as they sat side by side. Alan Large, the judge advocate general, said Welch “knew from the outset” that he was not entitled to the allowance.

Earlier in the hearing, Sarah Clarke QC, the prosecutor, had said Welch's offence was especially serious because “the higher the rank the greater the degree of culpability”.
She added that because Welch was in a position of “trust, power and responsibility” and committed the fraud over a “sustained period of time” of about 15 months, it raised the seriousness of the fraud.

Throughout this period, she said Welch, who had a glittering career, had “failed to respond to warnings and change his behaviour”.

Sarah Jones QC, who was defending Welch, said it was the “pride of his life” to be an officer in the British Army and described the father of three as “an officer of outstanding ability who did the job he had a vocation to do”.

She said his family could “feel things shattering” because of his conviction, that his children were “distressed” as his wife “tries to put a brave face on”.

Welch denied the single count of fraud during the trial but Jones expressed his regret: “He had not taken sufficient care ... that awareness is real and sincere. He really does know, all of this is his fault.”

Jones argued that the drawn-out nature of the proceedings have had a serious effect on Welch’s family and should be taken into consideration when sentencing.

The four-week trial found Welch had lied to the army by saying they were living in military quarters in London when they in fact spent most of their time at their £800,000 Dorset home, breaching allowance rules.

He was convicted of swindling £49,212 in education allowance over a period of 15 months.

The trial heard he “deliberately manipulated the numbers” to mislead military police about how much time his wife had spent in London from December 2015 to February 2017. Welch is now expected to be transferred to a military corrective training unit before being moved to a civilian prison.

To conform to the allowance rules, Mrs Welch, a 54-year-old freelance consultant, could spend only 90 days away from the London address in a year.

They used the money to send their children to the £37,000-a-year Clayesmore School and £22,500-a-year Hanford School, both in Dorset.

Lieutenant General Sir John Murray was court martialled in 1815 trial two years after the shambolic siege of Tarragona in southern Spain, during the Duke of Wellington's Peninsula campaign, which ended his distinguished military career.

He was found guilty of abandoning his guns without due cause and admonished by the court but was not jailed.

An AUB spokesperson said: “Following a guilty verdict in court proceedings against Nick Welch that predate his employment at Arts University Bournemouth, the university can confirm that Mr Welch has left his role as AUB Chief Operating Officer with immediate effect.”
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[NutLoose]

Couldn’t afford the school fees but managed to find the fees for Sarah Jones QC.

[Airbubba]

Pan Am had an allowance system for overseas postings modeled on the Foreign Service benefits for diplomats. Pilots based in Berlin could send their kids to school anywhere in the world and the tuition and other costs would be covered. With pilots and money, what could possibly go wrong?

Pan Am pilot Hank claimed that he had six children in boarding schools in France and Switzerland and collected the school allowances for several years before he crossed paths with the TXL station manager Elke. She did some checking and found out that Hank's kids were actually in public schools in Mobile, Alabama. After the obligatory hearings and appeals under the Railway Labor Act, Hank got fired and took a job with Orion Airlines, a non-sked cargo outfit.

Pan Am had a pilot contract that was amendable and Hank appealed to both ALPA and Dan, the Pan Am VP-Flight Ops who was a fellow Naval Academy graduate in the Class of 1960. When the dust settled on the new pilot contract there was a provision to 'make Hank whole'. He returned to work in time to go to Delta with the A310s and the Pan Am Europe routes.

[charliegolf]

I recall at Swinderby in 79, we had lectures in personal finance/financial responsibility etc; and something rammed home in one of them, was that the fastest way to Colchester was to steal public funds. That always stuck with me for the menace in the delivery.

CG

[NutLoose]

I recall at Swinderby in 79, we had lectures in personal finance/financial responsibility etc; and something rammed home in one of them, was that the fastest way to Colchester was to steal public funds. That always stuck with me for the menace in the delivery.

CG
Off topic, We had the Padre at Swiditz at a meet and greet tell us we could call him Father or Padre or whatever we felt comfortable with, after he left the discip got up and said, I don't care what bollox he is talking, you will address him as Sir.

That always stuck with me

[Mr N Nimrod]

Off topic, We had the Padre at Swiditz at a meet and greet tell us we could call him Father or Padre or whatever we felt comfortable with, after he left the discip got up and said, I don't care what bollox he is talking, you will address him as Sir.

That always stuck with me
thank you for sharing that

[2Planks]

I'm amazed that some folks think they can still get away with it. After the introduction of JPA a lot of culprits were caught on this boarding school fiddle, had to repay and leave back in the late noughties. I don't remember any jail sentences. But I do recall some names as I had worked for one of them (twice!).

[Union Jack]

Off topic, We had the Padre at Swiditz at a meet and greet tell us we could call him Father or Padre or whatever we felt comfortable with, after he left the discip got up and said, I don't care what bollox he is talking, you will address him as Sir.

That always stuck with me
Interesting that the Army and the Royal Air Force award their chaplains military ranks, up to two star level, whereas Royal Navy chaplains simply hold the rank of "Chaplain Royal Navy" but are deemed to assume the equivalent rank or rating of the man or woman they are talking to, whether full Admiral or able rating. They are normally addressed as Padre or, less formally, Bish and I cannot recall ever hearing one addressed as "Sir".

Naval chaplains' pay is based on their length of service, other than the Chaplain of the Fleet and his deputy and the Principal Chaplains of other denominations than those of the preceding two appointments.

Amen

Jack

[Rigga]

Air Pig, Yes, it is the same case - I believe he resigned his commission before the case came to court - I think in that way the scum can keep his pension.

[212man]

Air Pig, Yes, it is the same case - I believe he resigned his commission before the case came to court - I think in that way the scum can keep his pension.

Two different cases, but same fraud crime. One Major General Nick Welch and one Lt Col Adam Roberts

[Doctor Cruces]

Had an SNCO from handbrake house call me up and accuse me of fiddling my travel expenses. He said that XXXXXXXX was nowhere near the home to duty mileage I had clamed for many months as he had checked it and that I would be charged and should present myself to him pronto. I said I knew XXXXXXXX was nowhere near that distance and I could hear the glee in his voice. I really should have let him get on with it but I said that I wasn't claiming from there but from my home which was in a different village with one letter different, one less and very important letter "M". I spelled out where I was claiming from and he agreed that's what I put, said "Never heard of it" and that was the end of that. Obviously another handbrake house resident with not enough to do but too busy to actually read what people write on forms.

[Training Risky]

Not condoning these officers' behaviour for one moment...but the rules on CEA must have been pretty crystal clear for them to have gotten prison time over it?!

I take it the JSP/whatever specifically states where you/your wife MUST live etc?

I remember the great Kandahar gravel fraud of 2011, where several senior Regiment officers walked away from the biggest MOD fraud case in history because it was hard to pin anything on them: link to story (https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/four-arrests-armed-forces-corruption-158282)

[MPN11]

Our Area Radar course assembled at RAF Sopley in 1970, and were directed to SHQ for processing. The Sgt Admin looked at our assorted Fs 1771, handed us blank ones, and instructed us on what to claim (in addition to mileage). There were numerous little allowances we had never heard of that were duly, and legally, claimed and paid.

OTOH, my wife was Desk Officer for Allowances at Adastral in the 80s, and filtered all sorts of spurious claims across the spectrum. That culminated in being the Specialist Witness at a Boarding School Allowance (as was) CM of a personal friend. Not a nice experience.

So much for the “Trusty and well beloved” on the Commissioning parchment. 👎

[cafesolo]

What or where is "handbrake house" ?

[Asturias56]

Trouble with fiddling your expenses in any walk of life is that a lot of people know what you're up to

often they let it ride but if you get on their wrong side or they suddenly need a sacrificial goat...............

[Training Risky]

What or where is "handbrake house" ?
It is a term used in the Royal Air Force to refer to the Station Headquarters, where all the administration functions (HR/accounts) are based.

The word 'handbrake' refers to the fact that senior officers and their minions in that building can immediately stop any professional or leisure activity that you want to do with little or no explanation.:)

[MPN11]

What or where is "handbrake house" ?
A disrespectful name given to Admin HQ on RAF Stations by people with inflated self-importance and no understanding whatsoever of what is involved in administering an RAF Station.

The absence of the facility would lead to chaos and immobility in a day or two.

[Mr N Nimrod]

A disrespectful name given to Admin HQ on RAF Stations by people with inflated self-importance and no understanding whatsoever of what is involved in administering an RAF Station.

The absence of the facility would lead to chaos and immobility in a day or two.
spoken like a true shiney arsed scribbly - always handy to have one or two around, even if it’s just to lend a pen

[MPN11]

spoken like a true shiney arsed scribbly - always handy to have one or two around, even if it’s just to lend a pen
Acerbic and inaccurate, although I admit to using a pen on tours in the AFD and the DIS (amongst many others).

Over.

[Training Risky]

The absence of the facility would lead to chaos and immobility in a day or two.
Ooooh...touched a nerve...?

Many on here would severely beg to differ on that point.

[Tinribs]

We had an NCO at RAE Bedford done for the same thing. He claimed in mitigation that the rules were so complicated that he thought he was ok to claim when he was separated from his wife because the kids were still at the same school as when living together and he would have needed to move the kids, possibly for a short time if things did not work out. I don't suppose ignorance of the rules would work well for such a senior officer. It is fair to say at some stations different command accountants would take a different view of the rules. Just as the previous we had a situation where the rule for home to duty said "direct" some understood that to mean the shortest route others the most convenient the OED says direct means simplest

[vascodegama]

Mr N you owe me a keyboard!

TR-I thought the idea of command accounts was just that-to command! There should be no doubt as to the rules and any issue should be sorted at that level. HTD is a good example-I kept a copy of a CA letter that said you could vary the distance and route for security reasons.

As for BSA/CEA I suspect a lot of claimants have pushed the boundaries over the years.

[Jobza Guddun]

A disrespectful name given to Admin HQ on RAF Stations by people with inflated self-importance and no understanding whatsoever of what is involved in administering an RAF Station.

The absence of the facility would lead to chaos and immobility in a day or two.

Coming to a camp near you as we speak!! :hmm:

[NutLoose]

The absence of the facility would lead to chaos and immobility in a day or two.

Surely they could simply get the blanket stackers to take up the slack, they deal with posting stuff all over the place, as well as purchasing, so wages etc would be easy for them.

[VigilantPilot]

Not excusing what is clearly fraud, but there seem to be too many of these CEA/fraudulent claiming cases going to court martial with officers you wouldn't expect ending up doing civilian jail time. Makes me think there are two issues - (1) the system is letting too many false claims through without proper checks and balances, ie it's too easy to perpetuate this crime and (2) the crime isn't seen as serious enough by those convicted - at the time they probably think "oh well, my wife could be living with me, it doesn't hurt anyone if she's spending more time away than technically she should". I also think there has been a policy shift to throw the book. I expect had it been MPs caught doing this, there wouldn't have been the same result.

Reading this thread reminds me I'm always amazed at how every single thread on pprune miltiary only takes a few posts on the subject before it becomes "back in Swinderby in '79"!

[NutLoose]

I wasn't there in 79 :p

[charliegolf]

Reading this thread reminds me I'm always amazed at how every single thread on pprune miltiary only takes a few posts on the subject before it becomes "back in Swinderby in '79"!

Pointed at my post? It remains good advice: steal from the Crown, go to jail. What's not to get?

CG

[VigilantPilot]

Pointed at my post? It remains good advice: steal from the Crown, go to jail. What's not to get?

CG

No personal attack meant, if I used your words it was only because I had most recently read them so I apologise if it came across wrong. It's the same on any post on this sub-forum.

[charliegolf]

No personal attack meant, if I used your words it was only because I had most recently read them so I apologise if it came across wrong. It's the same on any post on this sub-forum.

Thumbs-up!:ok:

CG

[Two's in]

The lesson I learned from Betty Windsor's shooting club was it doesn't matter if it's 1 penny or a million pounds, the charge will still be same if you fiddle a claim. That has always stuck with me, especially in dealing with those who didn't learn the lesson. The comment in the Daily Fail article about the hapless Lt Col offering to pay back all the money is hilarious - "you caught me, but I'll pay you back" is a great defence ploy.

[Right20deg]

The Court took the correct decision, imo, and the sentencing was appropriate. Quite unbelievable what occurred.
The intention was clear and no excuses.

[Cat Techie]

Criminal Record. Whom from the boys club will employ him? Someone will. Enough said. My industry, a CRB check will kill career.

[Training Risky]

The regulations must be quite well written and crystal clear to snag so many people and get them prison time?!

Quite rare to see MOD regulations written to such a high standard...

[langleybaston]

He is only a Lt Col [or was]. Hardly Boys' Club material.

Even rural Golf Club secretary rates higher.

[Cat Techie]

He is only a Lt Col [or was]. Hardly Boys' Club material.

Even rural Golf Club secretary rates higher.

Perhaps. You have always been Mister. So am I (and have been for some time now). So happy my military pension has now been index linked. I can book a SAGA holiday now as well.

[langleybaston]

Perhaps. You have always been Mister. So am I (and have been for some time now). So happy my military pension has now been index linked. I can book a SAGA holiday now as well.

Best status was being attached to the RAF ....... never called anyone sir below Gp Capt, and that not for ever, all the fun, all the perks, all the privileges, no nasty itchy uniforms except on exercises, not much CS gas, not many bangs, good pay, super pension, great memories, good friends.

And we won the Cold War, much of which we spent in places where the next siren might mean Armageddon.

Enjoy the holiday...

[PICKS135]

The lesson I learned from Betty Windsor's shooting club was it doesn't matter if it's 1 penny or a million pounds, the charge will still be same if you fiddle a claim. That has always stuck with me, especially in dealing with those who didn't learn the lesson. The comment in the Daily Fail article about the hapless Lt Col offering to pay back all the money is hilarious - "you caught me, but I'll pay you back" is a great defence ploy.

Probably learnt from watching BBC parliament, Where MP's caught fiddling are allowed to do this AND keep the job !!

[Cat Techie]

Best status was being attached to the RAF ....... never called anyone sir below Gp Capt, and that not for ever, all the fun, all the perks, all the privileges, no nasty itchy uniforms except on exercises, not much CS gas, not many bangs, good pay, super pension, great memories, good friends.

And we won the Cold War, much of which we spent in places where the next siren might mean Armageddon.

Enjoy the holiday...
You really have an issue with History. People like myself won the Cold War. Sitting in a Sangar. You never did. Cold War was won by people allowed to ply their living by merit. With protection. Even the Tories understood that. You are a civilian and always will be. I have hot war stories. I was a serviceman. I was an RAF aircraft technician. I made the oath.

[NutLoose]

Cat, Met had to play silly buggers exactly as we did on exercise, Civilian or not.

[Union Jack]

He is only a Lt Col [or was]. Hardly Boys' Club material.

Even rural Golf Club secretary rates higher.

I trust that you are not alluding to Captain Paddy Hanmer of Muirfield fame or infamy - your choice vide https://www.forbes.com/forbes-life-magazine/2002/0513/029.html?sh=600d8e20d944

Jack

[Fortissimo]

And for those of us who actually went to war, Cold or otherwise, a decent met man was the 5th wingman. Their info was crucial for planning, selection of diversions, fuel reserves, MINTRA levels, crosswind predictions, cloud structures, freezing level and icing, performance calculations (for things larger than a Jaguar, which relied on curvature of the earth), fog, etc.etc.
If I need to. Put that into shorter. Sentences. I will give it a go.

[langleybaston]

You really have an issue with History. People like myself won the Cold War. Sitting in a Sangar. You never did. Cold War was won by people allowed to ply their living by merit. With protection. Even the Tories understood that. You are a civilian and always will be. I have hot war stories. I was a serviceman. I was an RAF aircraft technician. I made the oath.

My dear old Cat Techie. I am sure you were a hero. You told us often enough.

I was a grammar school boy, turned down at the last minute by Dartmouth, to be a Midshipman, for eyesight..
I was then rejected for national service by the RAF as having a duodenal ulcer at 18 years..
I got over it, did the hard yards, obtained professional qualifications, joined M o D Met. Office as second best choice to be with the RAF, and gave heroes like you a chance to have a pop whilst doing my best, moving home and family on average every three years for 41 years. 15 years Overseas, all "within range". and subject to the Air Force Act, holding RAFVR Dormant Commissions as Flt Lt, Sqn Ldr and Gp Capt..
10 years supporting the V Force and teaching Navs,. No stress, no worries, Peace, perfect Peace.. No medals of course, just a job, like any old civil servant in Whitehall.

Keep taking the tablets and look for an easier target.. Check your blood pressure.

Rather than bore PPRUNE, why not PM me,?

[Cat Techie]

My dear old Cat Techie. I am sure you were a hero. You told us often enough.

I was a grammar school boy, turned down at the last minute by Dartmouth, to be a Midshipman, for eyesight..
I was then rejected for national service by the RAF as having a duodenal ulcer at 18 years..
I got over it, did the hard yards, obtained professional qualifications, joined M o D Met. Office as second best choice to be with the RAF, and gave heroes like you a chance to have a pop whilst doing my best, moving home and family on average every three years for 41 years. 15 years Overseas, all "within range". and subject to the Air Force Act, holding RAFVR Dormant Commissions as Flt Lt, Sqn Ldr and Gp Capt..
10 years supporting the V Force and teaching Navs,. No stress, no worries, Peace, perfect Peace.. No medals of course, just a job, like any old civil servant in Whitehall.

Keep taking the tablets and look for an easier target.. Check your blood pressure.

Rather than bore PPRUNE, why not PM me,?
Because you actually never did hot ops. Did you ever work 63 days continuous 12 hour night shifts with interrupted sleep everyday? The commissioned officers that ran the show that gave me that **** show were incapable of working a solution. Actually they didn't give a care. My daughter's have more pressure than you have ever have . Their careers are objective. My career is objective. Your one is skilled subjecive.

[charliegolf]

Catty, yer meds ain't hacking it mate.

CG

[Cat Techie]

Catty, yer meds ain't hacking it mate.

CG
They won't. You and I signed up. I heard Baz Barwood die on a radio. I was also trying to see if the lads in my charge were OK. You defend a civvy over myself, your shout.

[langleybaston]

Because you actually never did hot ops. Did you ever work 63 days continuous 12 hour night shifts with interrupted sleep everyday? The commissioned officers that ran the show that gave me that **** show were incapable of working a solution. Actually they didn't give a care. My daughter's have more pressure than you have ever have . Their careers are objective. My career is objective. Your one is skilled subjecive.

Dear Cat Techie.
As for what little my three daughters have achieved: Met. Police Mounted Branch Public Duties and Senior Equitation Instructor, with Commissioner's Commendation and as Olympics Coordinator; Senior Nursing Sister Burns Unit and Health Visitor,; Head of Maths at Girls' GS, and son RAFVR Rock Ape and a Supermarket Manager. A mere nothing in terms of what makes the world go round.

Peace be with you, and do look for an easier target.

Over and Out.

[Out Of Trim]

I wasn't there in 79 :p

I Was! ;)

Cat Techie, mate, give the guy a break... The Met guys were very important in getting the job done! They were also working long hours with random short postings just like us. Granted, they did not have to bear arms but were still in harm's way if their airfield had been attacked. I met plenty of Met men and they all seemed pretty conscientious and part of the team.

[downsizer]

What an amazing dick measuring contest!

[gijoe]

They won't. You and I signed up. I heard Baz Barwood die on a radio. I was also trying to see if the lads in my charge were OK. You defend a civvy over myself, your shout.

Did you do the Battle of Bastion as well?

Get over yourself.