You need to be logged in to your Sky Poker account above to post discussions and comments.
You might need to refresh your page afterwards.
Court Martial.
Most senior Army officer to face court martial in 200 years 'lied to claim £50k school fees'
The most senior Army officer to face a court martial in 200 years lied about his wife living with him 120 miles away from their children's schools to claim £50,000 in fees, a court has heard.
Major General Nick Welch, 57, is standing trial accused of defrauding the taxpayer by abusing his Army allowances to pay for his children’s private education.
The two-star general is the highest ranking officer to be brought before a court martial since 1815, when Lieutenant General Sir John Murray was convicted of abandoning his siege guns without due cause in the Napoleonic Wars.
Opening the case on Tuesday, the prosecution alleged Maj Gen Welch told the Army that his wife, Charlotte, would be living with him at his new residence in London after he took up the job at the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) headquarters in 2015.
This meant he would be able to claim an allowance for his children’s education, despite the fact his wife spent most of her time at their £800,000 country home close to the schools, the military court was told.
The first day of his four-week trial at Bulford Military Court, Wilts, heard that £48,000 in education allowance was claimed between Dec 2015 and Feb 2017.
Maj Gen Welch, who denies one count of fraud, had been living in Gloucestershire when he was appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff in 2015.
The father-of-three had to relocate to a four-bed family quarters home in Putney, London, the court heard.
Soldiers are offered funding to cover 90 per cent of their children’s education when they are relocated on assignment under the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA), as long as their family lives with them.
Maj Gen Welch allegedly told the Army this would be true in his case, but his wife actually spent most of her time at a cottage in Dorset, close to the two schools where his children boarded.
One child was sent to the £37,000 a year Clayesmore School while another went to the £22,500 Hanford School, the court was told.
Mrs Welch, 54, sent a text to her friend saying she could see Hanford from her cottage window, it was heard, while her husband was said to spend every weekend at the home.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/most-senior-army-officer-to-face-court-martial-in-200-years-lied-to-claim-50k-school-fees/ar-BB1ea5KM?ocid=msedgntp
The most senior Army officer to face a court martial in 200 years lied about his wife living with him 120 miles away from their children's schools to claim £50,000 in fees, a court has heard.
Major General Nick Welch, 57, is standing trial accused of defrauding the taxpayer by abusing his Army allowances to pay for his children’s private education.
The two-star general is the highest ranking officer to be brought before a court martial since 1815, when Lieutenant General Sir John Murray was convicted of abandoning his siege guns without due cause in the Napoleonic Wars.
Opening the case on Tuesday, the prosecution alleged Maj Gen Welch told the Army that his wife, Charlotte, would be living with him at his new residence in London after he took up the job at the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) headquarters in 2015.
This meant he would be able to claim an allowance for his children’s education, despite the fact his wife spent most of her time at their £800,000 country home close to the schools, the military court was told.
The first day of his four-week trial at Bulford Military Court, Wilts, heard that £48,000 in education allowance was claimed between Dec 2015 and Feb 2017.
Maj Gen Welch, who denies one count of fraud, had been living in Gloucestershire when he was appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff in 2015.
The father-of-three had to relocate to a four-bed family quarters home in Putney, London, the court heard.
Soldiers are offered funding to cover 90 per cent of their children’s education when they are relocated on assignment under the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA), as long as their family lives with them.
Maj Gen Welch allegedly told the Army this would be true in his case, but his wife actually spent most of her time at a cottage in Dorset, close to the two schools where his children boarded.
One child was sent to the £37,000 a year Clayesmore School while another went to the £22,500 Hanford School, the court was told.
Mrs Welch, 54, sent a text to her friend saying she could see Hanford from her cottage window, it was heard, while her husband was said to spend every weekend at the home.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/most-senior-army-officer-to-face-court-martial-in-200-years-lied-to-claim-50k-school-fees/ar-BB1ea5KM?ocid=msedgntp
Comments
But nearly all the places go to Officers.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/rule-broken-by-major-general-was-not-strictly-enforced/ar-BB1ewCPQ?ocid=msedgntp
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.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9402467/Major-General-guilty-fraudulently-claiming-nearly-50-000.html
On Friday, Judge Advocate General Alan Large jailed Welch for 21 months and said the panel of senior officers were sentencing him "on the basis the defendant behaved dishonestly throughout".
He was retrospectively dismissed from the Army, which he left in 2018, meaning he will not be able to benefit from the rank of a retired major general.
Welch will serve his custodial sentence in a civilian prison and was ordered to pay back all of the money he had fraudulently claimed.
Judge Large said: "A disciplined organisation such as the Army relies on those in rank and authority to set an example and to be beyond reproach.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/two-star-general-jailed-for-fraud-which-put-morale-and-discipline-of-troops-at-risk/ar-BB1eZuaU?ocid=msedgntp