RAF officer found guilty of fraudulently claiming £83,000 in school fees.
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We never claimed boarding school allowance for my son simply because we didn’t send him. The consequence was that by the time he reached the age of fourteen he’d attended seven different schools, all but one of those due to RAF postings. Having left the service, I then found myself in very different circumstances and in a position of having to fund his boarding school education out of my own pocket for three years. Consequently, we don’t have much of a retirement fund…but I’m very pleased that he didn’t let us down; he’s done very well for himself since and earning more than I ever did.
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And another one! A full Colonel this time!
Ex-Army colonel denies fraudulently claiming thousands to pay school fees (msn.com)
A senior British Army officer who was the deputy director of the Government’s Covid-19 taskforce has denied fraudulently claiming tens of thousands of pounds in allowances to pay his children’s private school fees.
Retired colonel Marcus Reedman, 51, was a lieutenant colonel at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) building in Whitehall at the time of the allegations, between October 1 2016 and August 17 2017.
It is alleged that Reedman, whose last post was deputy director of the Covid-19 taskforce as acting brigadier, claimed continuity of education allowance (CEA) payments to fund his three children’s £75,000-a-year private school fees, which matched his Army salary.
Prosecutors say he failed to declare he was serving unaccompanied at his residence at work address (RWA) in Biggin Hill, south-east London, while his wife Astrid Reedman lived at the family home in Rye, East Sussex.
Reedman was last year charged with fraud relating to three CEA payments totalling £43,470 over the course of a single school year.
The allowance is aimed at enabling children of service personnel to remain at the same schools to allow their serving parent to be accompanied by their spouse as they are posted to different locations.
CEA payments come with conditions and include rules saying the spouse must not be away from the RWA for more than 90 days per year.
Reedman, who has been pictured alongside the King – then the Prince of Wales – and then-prime minister David Cameron during his career, appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Friday to plead not guilty to a single count of fraud.
The indictment alleges that he dishonestly failed to disclose to the MoD that he was serving unaccompanied at his RWA from October 1 2017.
It says the information “had an effect on (his) eligibility to claim CEA which (he) was under a legal duty to disclose”.
Reedman faces a two-week trial from May 9 and was granted unconditional bail by Judge Nicholas Rimmer.
Retired colonel Marcus Reedman, 51, was a lieutenant colonel at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) building in Whitehall at the time of the allegations, between October 1 2016 and August 17 2017.
It is alleged that Reedman, whose last post was deputy director of the Covid-19 taskforce as acting brigadier, claimed continuity of education allowance (CEA) payments to fund his three children’s £75,000-a-year private school fees, which matched his Army salary.
Prosecutors say he failed to declare he was serving unaccompanied at his residence at work address (RWA) in Biggin Hill, south-east London, while his wife Astrid Reedman lived at the family home in Rye, East Sussex.
Reedman was last year charged with fraud relating to three CEA payments totalling £43,470 over the course of a single school year.
The allowance is aimed at enabling children of service personnel to remain at the same schools to allow their serving parent to be accompanied by their spouse as they are posted to different locations.
CEA payments come with conditions and include rules saying the spouse must not be away from the RWA for more than 90 days per year.
Reedman, who has been pictured alongside the King – then the Prince of Wales – and then-prime minister David Cameron during his career, appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Friday to plead not guilty to a single count of fraud.
The indictment alleges that he dishonestly failed to disclose to the MoD that he was serving unaccompanied at his RWA from October 1 2017.
It says the information “had an effect on (his) eligibility to claim CEA which (he) was under a legal duty to disclose”.
Reedman faces a two-week trial from May 9 and was granted unconditional bail by Judge Nicholas Rimmer.
"It is alleged that Reedman, whose last post was deputy director of the Covid-19 taskforce as acting brigadier, claimed continuity of education allowance (CEA) payments to fund his three children’s
£75,000-a-year private school fees, which matched his Army salary."
No-one else the country on £75k a year would stick 3 kids into schools charging those numbers
£75,000-a-year private school fees, which matched his Army salary."
No-one else the country on £75k a year would stick 3 kids into schools charging those numbers
No-one else the country on £75k a year would stick 3 kids into schools charging those numbers[/QUOTE]
By the time that is taxed, mortgage paid, car paid, household bills, three teenage-ish children and one decent holiday a year, should be grateful for a country that provides education to age 18. And National Elf, whatever!
By the time that is taxed, mortgage paid, car paid, household bills, three teenage-ish children and one decent holiday a year, should be grateful for a country that provides education to age 18. And National Elf, whatever!
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Retired Colonel found not guilty of school fees fraud.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2353972.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2353972.html
A retired colonel, who was the deputy director of the Government’s Covid-19 task force, has been cleared of falsely claiming £43,470 to pay his children’s boarding school fees.
Prosecutors said Marcus Reedman, 51, claimed continuity of education allowance (CEA) payments to help fund his three children’s £75,000-a-year private school fees, which matched his entire British Army salary.
Reedman’s last job was as the deputy director of the Covid-19 task force with the rank of acting brigadier.
During his Army career, he was pictured alongside the King, who was then the Prince of Wales, and David Cameron, who was prime minister at the time.
Prosecutors said he “cheated the system” to “dishonestly” collect taxpayers’ money while he was posted to a desk job at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) building in Whitehall.
Reedman’s eldest daughter and son attended Brighton College, costing about £30,000 each a year, while his youngest daughter was a daygirl at the Marlborough House prep school in Kent, for which no CEA was claimed.
To be eligible for the scheme – aimed at allowing the children of service personnel to stay at the same school while their serving parent is posted around the country or abroad – he had to be accompanied by his wife, Astrid Reedman.
He was alleged to have wrongly claimed the payments while she and his family were living at the family home in Rye, East Sussex, instead of his residence at work address (RWA) in Biggin Hill, south-east London.
The soldier, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, told jurors he was serving accompanied throughout the period October 1 2016 until August 17 2017.
He was acquitted of fraud by a jury at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday after 15 hours of deliberation.
His supporters in the public gallery cheered and he bowed to Judge Nicholas Rimmer before leaving the court.
Giving evidence, Reedman said he attended a prep school before completing state education and joined the Army aged 23.
He told jurors he decided to send his children to private school because his daughter was being “severely bullied”.
But he said he was not “wedded” to the idea and denied he had dishonestly defrauded the MoD.
When asked if he had moved to Biggin Hill alone, he said: “No, I moved with my family,” and told the jury his wife had not moved back to Rye by October 2016.
Prosecutors said Marcus Reedman, 51, claimed continuity of education allowance (CEA) payments to help fund his three children’s £75,000-a-year private school fees, which matched his entire British Army salary.
Reedman’s last job was as the deputy director of the Covid-19 task force with the rank of acting brigadier.
During his Army career, he was pictured alongside the King, who was then the Prince of Wales, and David Cameron, who was prime minister at the time.
Prosecutors said he “cheated the system” to “dishonestly” collect taxpayers’ money while he was posted to a desk job at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) building in Whitehall.
Reedman’s eldest daughter and son attended Brighton College, costing about £30,000 each a year, while his youngest daughter was a daygirl at the Marlborough House prep school in Kent, for which no CEA was claimed.
To be eligible for the scheme – aimed at allowing the children of service personnel to stay at the same school while their serving parent is posted around the country or abroad – he had to be accompanied by his wife, Astrid Reedman.
He was alleged to have wrongly claimed the payments while she and his family were living at the family home in Rye, East Sussex, instead of his residence at work address (RWA) in Biggin Hill, south-east London.
The soldier, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, told jurors he was serving accompanied throughout the period October 1 2016 until August 17 2017.
He was acquitted of fraud by a jury at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday after 15 hours of deliberation.
His supporters in the public gallery cheered and he bowed to Judge Nicholas Rimmer before leaving the court.
Giving evidence, Reedman said he attended a prep school before completing state education and joined the Army aged 23.
He told jurors he decided to send his children to private school because his daughter was being “severely bullied”.
But he said he was not “wedded” to the idea and denied he had dishonestly defrauded the MoD.
When asked if he had moved to Biggin Hill alone, he said: “No, I moved with my family,” and told the jury his wife had not moved back to Rye by October 2016.
Well it was a jury trial so he must have made a decent case.
I still think its odd that someone is allowed to put their kids in expensive schools at tax-payers expense
I still think its odd that someone is allowed to put their kids in expensive schools at tax-payers expense
"Mildly" Eccentric Stardriver
There is a clue as to why in the title of the allowance.
N
I still think it was good use of his taxes.
I managed to complete just under 30 years without using it but I had to compromise elsewhere for my kids education. I don't begrudge those that use CEA either. Whilst it may sound fantastic for your kids to go to a posh version of Hogwarts, you do get to hear what it is genuinely like for a kid to be the only 'poor' one in the class, that comes from a region that everyone seems blissfully unaware of, who didn't go to any of the 'right sort' of feeder schools or be destined for the next pillar of
Once upon a time the allowance covered a decent proportion of school fees and as a result it was used by both SNCOs and officers(occassionally more junior ranks too but they rarely had kids, as they were younger) to educate children that would otherwise be moved many times during their education which would of course suffer.
As a result those with kids at boarding school REMAINED in the service and were accepting of the need to change posts, often at short notice.
The labour party has a bit of a downer on private education (unless its their own child of course) and IIRC Gordon Brown essentially froze BSA and as the years progressed the perentage of school fees it covered gradually declined. One consequence of this was that fewer and fewer SNCOs were able to afford to pay the balance and the uptake of BSA moved to senior officer level as they were the only ones who could afford it.
Now I'm sure its only one factor but how IS SNCO retention these days and how often do the posters hear the phrase 'if you post me I'm leaving'
For clarity, I have never used BSA and have no skin in the game apart from wishing to ensure our service people get the best possible terms and conditions!
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Asturias
You never fail to disappoint. I bet myself that when this thread was resurrected I’d see a post from you criticising the offer of private education for military children.
Two terms spring to mind:
1. The politics of envy - I never had it so why should anyone else?
2. Chip on the shoulder - you never served and clearly begrudge any kind of good deal for anyone else.
By all means petition the government to remove the allowance. Maybe with less bases and less moves for families it is less necessary than it was but don’t come crying when recruitment and the willingness of personnel to accept remote postings suffer as a result.
BV
Two terms spring to mind:
1. The politics of envy - I never had it so why should anyone else?
2. Chip on the shoulder - you never served and clearly begrudge any kind of good deal for anyone else.
By all means petition the government to remove the allowance. Maybe with less bases and less moves for families it is less necessary than it was but don’t come crying when recruitment and the willingness of personnel to accept remote postings suffer as a result.
BV
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In context (though it quotes some fees in the article) a pretty normal (decent enough, but not top of the league and not beloved of the ra-ra set) private school near me costs 13.5k per term / 40k+ per year for boarding fees in year 9+. So if we have established that being highly mobile is probably detrimental to your kids' senior school education, it seems reasonable they should be afforded stability. Either a) don't post people with kids in senior school (career foul/service need) or b) square them away. Neither is happening at the moment, because unless you're lucky/senior officer material you probably aren't affording 15k per child after CEA if the current allowance is 25k a year as quoted.
You never fail to disappoint. I bet myself that when this thread was resurrected I’d see a post from you criticising the offer of private education for military children.
Two terms spring to mind:
1. The politics of envy - I never had it so why should anyone else?
2. Chip on the shoulder - you never served and clearly begrudge any kind of good deal for anyone else.
By all means petition the government to remove the allowance. Maybe with less bases and less moves for families it is less necessary than it was but don’t come crying when recruitment and the willingness of personnel to accept remote postings suffer as a result.
BV
Two terms spring to mind:
1. The politics of envy - I never had it so why should anyone else?
2. Chip on the shoulder - you never served and clearly begrudge any kind of good deal for anyone else.
By all means petition the government to remove the allowance. Maybe with less bases and less moves for families it is less necessary than it was but don’t come crying when recruitment and the willingness of personnel to accept remote postings suffer as a result.
BV
everything is fine just move along don't ask any hard questions................... you can trust us..... just keep paying your taxes...........
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