RAF officer found guilty of fraudulently claiming £83,000 in school fees.
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I worked with a warrant officer MAOT who found himself in front of a courts martial after “disposing” of a quantity of unused drum stock Jet fuel into his domestic central heating tank. He might have got away with it had he not rather blatantly ordered his driver to deliver it and do the deed for him!
I’m pretty sure it was nothing to do with “shame” and everything to do with trying to minimise the disruption to his kids’ lives and ensure continuity of education to avoid any impact on their exam success. They were already having to cope with the trauma of divorce.
Having divorced when my kids were 10 and 13, this was also an issue I faced (keeping them in school, not claiming CEA). Thankfully I was well enough paid that I was able to keep them in their schools, whilst also paying alimony and child support! Very painful, financially, but worth it in the long run.
So, I sympathise but don’t condone.
Having divorced when my kids were 10 and 13, this was also an issue I faced (keeping them in school, not claiming CEA). Thankfully I was well enough paid that I was able to keep them in their schools, whilst also paying alimony and child support! Very painful, financially, but worth it in the long run.
So, I sympathise but don’t condone.
Are the clerks getting disciplined for their oversight too? His PStat would have changed post divorce so could have joined the dots and saved all this bother....?
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I’m pretty sure it was nothing to do with “shame” and everything to do with trying to minimise the disruption to his kids’ lives and ensure continuity of education to avoid any impact on their exam success. They were already having to cope with the trauma of divorce.
Having divorced when my kids were 10 and 13, this was also an issue I faced (keeping them in school, not claiming CEA). Thankfully I was well enough paid that I was able to keep them in their schools, whilst also paying alimony and child support! Very painful, financially, but worth it in the long run.
So, I sympathise but don’t condone.
Having divorced when my kids were 10 and 13, this was also an issue I faced (keeping them in school, not claiming CEA). Thankfully I was well enough paid that I was able to keep them in their schools, whilst also paying alimony and child support! Very painful, financially, but worth it in the long run.
So, I sympathise but don’t condone.
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A fair point. But changing schools is not the end of the world and they don't all end up on the dole or joining ISIS.
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Two's In
This. Every recruit used to have sit through a brain-deadening sesh on personal finance, and the take away was: fastest way to clink- steal money from the Queen. No ifs, no buts. Nobody ever does it by accident, and no one, 'didn't realise'.
CG
...but the most important lesson should be as far as the Service is concerned, falsifying a claim for ten quid will have exactly the same effect on career and prospects as falsifying claims for £83,000. It's not the amount, it's the act.
CG
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Is there not a mechanism, a protocol, regarding authorising claims?
As a civil servant line manager, i recall being required to authorise each and every claim in longhand: "to the best of my knowledge and belief I certify that the duties for which this claim is made were authorised and executed"
or some such format.
I resolutely conformed to this for 17 years, knowing my neck was on the block, rejecting dozens, and in many cases referring them upwards for scrutiny.
As a civil servant line manager, i recall being required to authorise each and every claim in longhand: "to the best of my knowledge and belief I certify that the duties for which this claim is made were authorised and executed"
or some such format.
I resolutely conformed to this for 17 years, knowing my neck was on the block, rejecting dozens, and in many cases referring them upwards for scrutiny.
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this is demonstrably incorrect. There is a key threshold (probably somewhere in the million quid mark) above which you're not a criminal, you're a defence contractor....
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Is there not a mechanism, a protocol, regarding authorising claims?
As a civil servant line manager, i recall being required to authorise each and every claim in longhand: "to the best of my knowledge and belief I certify that the duties for which this claim is made were authorised and executed"
or some such format.
I resolutely conformed to this for 17 years, knowing my neck was on the block, rejecting dozens, and in many cases referring them upwards for scrutiny.
As a civil servant line manager, i recall being required to authorise each and every claim in longhand: "to the best of my knowledge and belief I certify that the duties for which this claim is made were authorised and executed"
or some such format.
I resolutely conformed to this for 17 years, knowing my neck was on the block, rejecting dozens, and in many cases referring them upwards for scrutiny.
Indeed. And part of that was checking the entitlement. But then a month later Claims would phone you and say 'not entitled', because their 'desk instructions' had modified the MoD Manual. It's silly fiddling the system, but on the other hand you're very often left out of pocket going about government business. I recall a rejection because an RN chap hadn't taken the most economical route from Yeovilton to Edinburgh. He was told to hitch it up the M5/M6/M74 the next time, and had a photo taken at the Taunton junction! That nonsense came to a head after a young 16-year old admin girl from London was booked into a cheap hotel in Glasgow that rented rooms by the hour. Her dad wanted the Secy of State's balls on a plate.
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Great. Without wanting to sound too controversial, our industry bleat on about the driver selection process being so thorough and how we're hand picked for the role. However the amount of liars and/or thieves who've slipped through lately amazes and worries me. Even more so that they all seem to have some sort of service background.
I'll now duck for cover...
I'll now duck for cover...
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Indeed. And part of that was checking the entitlement. But then a month later Claims would phone you and say 'not entitled', because their 'desk instructions' had modified the MoD Manual. It's silly fiddling the system, but on the other hand you're very often left out of pocket going about government business. I recall a rejection because an RN chap hadn't taken the most economical route from Yeovilton to Edinburgh. He was told to hitch it up the M5/M6/M74 the next time, and had a photo taken at the Taunton junction! That nonsense came to a head after a young 16-year old admin girl from London was booked into a cheap hotel in Glasgow that rented rooms by the hour. Her dad wanted the Secy of State's balls on a plate.
As for the main theme, I can think of a few claims that have sailed very close to the wind.
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Indeed. And part of that was checking the entitlement. But then a month later Claims would phone you and say 'not entitled', because their 'desk instructions' had modified the MoD Manual. It's silly fiddling the system, but on the other hand you're very often left out of pocket going about government business. I recall a rejection because an RN chap hadn't taken the most economical route from Yeovilton to Edinburgh. He was told to hitch it up the M5/M6/M74 the next time, and had a photo taken at the Taunton junction! That nonsense came to a head after a young 16-year old admin girl from London was booked into a cheap hotel in Glasgow that rented rooms by the hour. Her dad wanted the Secy of State's balls on a plate.
As an aside, when I applied for PVR and he asked why, well more demanded why, when I replied "it's called freedom of choice, you may have heard of this concept somewhere ? "....the facial expression, and the silence, were a joy to encounter.
The Germany travel claims.....unlike the numb from the neck up RSM, it was "far from unknown" shall we say to submit one, just the one, to supplement the bank balance....Munich and Hamburg were "very popular destinations ".
" One of the benefits of late is the availability of electronic copies of the rules. Previously it could be hard to get chapter and verse but now it is readily available to all. I took pleasure in pointing out their own errors to those that were telling me "
True.
In a different era, the arcane Admin world used all their genetic duplicity to ensure the RAF funds were not depleted...tr tried to.
First visit to Memmingen from Bruggen... put in a claim and the smug, pressed shirt, perfect haircut git says "it's a Nato base, so you are only entitled to DM 25 "...when questioned, much indignation resulted, but we thought, sod it. Next visit, one of the troops comes back with ?..DM250 !....spot the slight difference here...off we went, claimed, and mentioned the aforementioned scrooge...at the this point, said Cpl produces some obscure AP.. offers his opinion as to his colleague, and shows us chapter and verse, in writing, what we are officially entitled to....DM500 came in useful
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Our Area Radar Course assembled at RAF Sopley, and we were sent off to SHQ for Arrival Processing, including processing our Fs1771. The SNCO behind the desk looked at a couple as said "OK, please all start again with a new form. You are also entitled to ... blah blah blah." We were entitled to all sorts of bits and pieces we'd never heard of! The joys of a small Unit!
Some years ago when the Earth was still cooling, I was told to go from Brize to Ramstein and back for a 'TLP planning conference' as the Spams couldn't just ring us up and ask, it seems...
Investigate cost of travel. Drive to airport, flight to Frankfurt, hire car....£LOTS. Very £LOTS, it seems. Drive from home to the tunnel, then on to Ramstein - much cheaper. The admin section was quite happy with this.
Investigate accommodation. Last bloke just checked the cost of a cheap hotel nearby, Spam chum at Ramstein confirmed they're always full, so that's what I told them. "No Sir, sorry, but there's a new 'T-letter' about that - we need evidence that there's no room on base".
Drive over to Handbrake House to discuss the issue. "You have to ring Ramstein", they say. So I borrow their phone...as I know that the military systems couldn't (in those days) access Ramstein accommodation office direct, so the cost of the call will go down to Admin Wing, not the squadron.
Click, buzz, whirr..."This is the Ramstein accommodation office, you are number 12 in the queue, please hold and we will deal with your call as soon as possible....". After about 30 minutes, "Sir, no, we have no accommodation, you will need to speak to Wiesbaden. " "Can you transfer me?" "Sorry, sir, I can't do that - but the number is ........." Which turns out to be an Autovon number, so another battle to get hold of the Wiesbaden number follows.
Click, buzz, whirr..."This is the Wiesbaden accommodation office, you are number 7 in the queue, please hold and we will deal with your call as soon as possible....". Another 20 minutes and finally..."Sir, no, we have no accommodation, you will need accommodation off-base."
So, over an hour of time wasted and a very expensive call to prove what the chap at Ramstein had told me earlier. But it satisfied 'the rules' - although the admin folk were getting as exasperated as I was.
Now we look at the cost of driving. Their 'shortest route' involved France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany and was only about 30 miles shorter than my proposed route which was all on French / German motorways. 4 countries, each with different currencies (this was before €) and different allowance rates, or just 2 - they could see that 4 would be 1771-hell for them, so agreed to my route.
Since the 'conference' was due to finish at mid-day, there was no way I could get home sticking to the 'MT working hours' rules in one day, so they agreed to me staying overnight in an hotel in Rheims on the way back.
All went well; my conference activity involved one phone call to Group, who gave me the answer immediately. This amazed the Spams as they would have needed to wake up some General in the Pentagon, rather than just ringing a Sqn Ldr at Group.
Finish conference, off to BX. Then on to Rheims. Reasonable night and a decent meal, then leave at 0830, belt along the motorway to the tunnel, buy a couple of cases of wine and catch the next tunnel train....home by 1330 (1430CET).
Submit F1771 and the admin folk are very appreciative that I'd made their work considerably easier - they had even spoken to the Very Blunt Ones at Binnsworth or wherever to tell them what a load of cobblers their 'T-letter' was and it was causing considerable difficulty. When the adminers get going, they can be pretty aggressive with their people when faced by external administrivial bull$hit, it seems!
Even with all the mileage, motorway tolls, the tunnel, 3 nights in 2 hotels and my allowances, the trip was still a couple of hundred cheaper than it would have been using the 'official' method. The admin folk had been very helpful, I'd had some pleasant nights and a useful BX / Duty Free session - a win/win result all round.
BUT that was around 30 years ago when we had some very helpful admin people on base who could - and would - make sensible decisions. Be nice to them, they'll be nice to you! No expensive central booking blah, no JPA (which, thank heavens, was long after my time; does it still exist?) - and a much higher quality of life.
Investigate cost of travel. Drive to airport, flight to Frankfurt, hire car....£LOTS. Very £LOTS, it seems. Drive from home to the tunnel, then on to Ramstein - much cheaper. The admin section was quite happy with this.
Investigate accommodation. Last bloke just checked the cost of a cheap hotel nearby, Spam chum at Ramstein confirmed they're always full, so that's what I told them. "No Sir, sorry, but there's a new 'T-letter' about that - we need evidence that there's no room on base".
Drive over to Handbrake House to discuss the issue. "You have to ring Ramstein", they say. So I borrow their phone...as I know that the military systems couldn't (in those days) access Ramstein accommodation office direct, so the cost of the call will go down to Admin Wing, not the squadron.
Click, buzz, whirr..."This is the Ramstein accommodation office, you are number 12 in the queue, please hold and we will deal with your call as soon as possible....". After about 30 minutes, "Sir, no, we have no accommodation, you will need to speak to Wiesbaden. " "Can you transfer me?" "Sorry, sir, I can't do that - but the number is ........." Which turns out to be an Autovon number, so another battle to get hold of the Wiesbaden number follows.
Click, buzz, whirr..."This is the Wiesbaden accommodation office, you are number 7 in the queue, please hold and we will deal with your call as soon as possible....". Another 20 minutes and finally..."Sir, no, we have no accommodation, you will need accommodation off-base."
So, over an hour of time wasted and a very expensive call to prove what the chap at Ramstein had told me earlier. But it satisfied 'the rules' - although the admin folk were getting as exasperated as I was.
Now we look at the cost of driving. Their 'shortest route' involved France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany and was only about 30 miles shorter than my proposed route which was all on French / German motorways. 4 countries, each with different currencies (this was before €) and different allowance rates, or just 2 - they could see that 4 would be 1771-hell for them, so agreed to my route.
Since the 'conference' was due to finish at mid-day, there was no way I could get home sticking to the 'MT working hours' rules in one day, so they agreed to me staying overnight in an hotel in Rheims on the way back.
All went well; my conference activity involved one phone call to Group, who gave me the answer immediately. This amazed the Spams as they would have needed to wake up some General in the Pentagon, rather than just ringing a Sqn Ldr at Group.
Finish conference, off to BX. Then on to Rheims. Reasonable night and a decent meal, then leave at 0830, belt along the motorway to the tunnel, buy a couple of cases of wine and catch the next tunnel train....home by 1330 (1430CET).
Submit F1771 and the admin folk are very appreciative that I'd made their work considerably easier - they had even spoken to the Very Blunt Ones at Binnsworth or wherever to tell them what a load of cobblers their 'T-letter' was and it was causing considerable difficulty. When the adminers get going, they can be pretty aggressive with their people when faced by external administrivial bull$hit, it seems!
Even with all the mileage, motorway tolls, the tunnel, 3 nights in 2 hotels and my allowances, the trip was still a couple of hundred cheaper than it would have been using the 'official' method. The admin folk had been very helpful, I'd had some pleasant nights and a useful BX / Duty Free session - a win/win result all round.
BUT that was around 30 years ago when we had some very helpful admin people on base who could - and would - make sensible decisions. Be nice to them, they'll be nice to you! No expensive central booking blah, no JPA (which, thank heavens, was long after my time; does it still exist?) - and a much higher quality of life.
Last edited by BEagle; 25th Feb 2023 at 10:57.
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An opposite one, posted back from Bruggen to Brize with all the baggage that entails as a Singlie.
We have arranged a flight for you from Hannover, you need to get a train from XYZ change XYZ and on it went, hours and hours of travelling with several suitcases full of uniforms and clothes etc.
But there is a station coach and trooper from Wildenrath the next day!
Yes we realise that but your posting date is…
But does it matter I will be on leave etc…
Luckily something happened so I left a day late, otherwise I would have had a nightmare trip.
We have arranged a flight for you from Hannover, you need to get a train from XYZ change XYZ and on it went, hours and hours of travelling with several suitcases full of uniforms and clothes etc.
But there is a station coach and trooper from Wildenrath the next day!
Yes we realise that but your posting date is…
But does it matter I will be on leave etc…
Luckily something happened so I left a day late, otherwise I would have had a nightmare trip.
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Indeed. And part of that was checking the entitlement. But then a month later Claims would phone you and say 'not entitled', because their 'desk instructions' had modified the MoD Manual. It's silly fiddling the system, but on the other hand you're very often left out of pocket going about government business. I recall a rejection because an RN chap hadn't taken the most economical route from Yeovilton to Edinburgh. He was told to hitch it up the M5/M6/M74 the next time, and had a photo taken at the Taunton junction! That nonsense came to a head after a young 16-year old admin girl from London was booked into a cheap hotel in Glasgow that rented rooms by the hour. Her dad wanted the Secy of State's balls on a plate.
Beags . I had one cracker when I was due to go down from Wildenrath to Zweibucken to represent RAFG at a NATO Recce
conference in a two seat Harrier.
It went u/s just before take off. The pilot transferred to a GR3. So I grabbed his kit,. jumped into
my little Spitfire and hared off down the road South. to meet the deadline for the presentation.,
My retrospective travel claim was of course refused
( Unauthorised journey)
Apparently my use of a private car should have been conducted actually by RAF MT .............
PULL THE OTHER ONE!
conference in a two seat Harrier.
It went u/s just before take off. The pilot transferred to a GR3. So I grabbed his kit,. jumped into
my little Spitfire and hared off down the road South. to meet the deadline for the presentation.,
My retrospective travel claim was of course refused
( Unauthorised journey)Apparently my use of a private car should have been conducted actually by RAF MT .............
PULL THE OTHER ONE!
Last edited by Haraka; 25th Feb 2023 at 18:46.
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Having taken my option to part company with the RAF, a certain Group Captain station commander tried to block me from taking up a civilian job overseas that I’d been offered because as far as he was concerned, I should work for him right up until 23:59 on the day prior to my 38th birthday and the new employer wanted me there ASAP. QRs showed that I was entitled to leave some time in advance of my actual 38 point because I had a firm job offer (I think the rules allow as much as six months early, but it was a long time ago).
I did eventually manage to escape somewhat, early in accordance with QRs (I was still owed most of my annual leave, plus full entitlement of resettlement leave) and went off to complete a resettlement course some weeks before my actual retirement date. The resettlement course was overseas. I was entitled to Rate 1 subsistence allowance for the time spent there (28 days worth, iirc) - and it was a very expensive place. I took great satisfaction in submitting my claim for the latter, personally addressed to him, bearing in mind that it came out of his station budget.
I did eventually manage to escape somewhat, early in accordance with QRs (I was still owed most of my annual leave, plus full entitlement of resettlement leave) and went off to complete a resettlement course some weeks before my actual retirement date. The resettlement course was overseas. I was entitled to Rate 1 subsistence allowance for the time spent there (28 days worth, iirc) - and it was a very expensive place. I took great satisfaction in submitting my claim for the latter, personally addressed to him, bearing in mind that it came out of his station budget.