An RSPCA trustee funded his “lavish life-style” by swindling the animal charity out of greater than £100,000 throughout a five-year bills rip-off for resort stays and taxis, a courtroom heard on Monday.
David Mawson, 50, is accused of exploiting the charity’s financial institution accounts to take pleasure in a whole bunch of nights in inns he was not entitled to, in addition to free journeys.
“This case is about fraud, we are saying, Mr Mawson dedicated over a five-year interval between 2012 and 2017,” Andrew Hallworth, the prosecutor, informed the Inside London Crown Courtroom jury.
“It was a fraud dedicated by Mr Mawson when he was a trustee of the RSPCA, so this was a critical breach of belief by him.
“It was a fraud that was dedicated regularly and concerned Mr Mawson fraudulently utilizing the charity’s financial institution card to fund his personal lavish life-style to acquire free inns and free taxi rides.”
The prosecution mentioned Mr Mawson defrauded the charity of roughly £91,300 in resort stays and roughly £10,000 in taxi fares.
“He had no proper or permission to do what he did, regardless of something he might say on the contrary and as such he acted dishonestly all through.”
The courtroom heard that it’s the native voluntary trustees who make the day-to-day selections concerning charity outlets and native animal welfare initiatives.
Trustees are allowed to invoice for “cheap and obligatory” prices, however the jury had been informed the cash shouldn’t be for private profit.
Mr Mawson, of Staines Street, Twickenham, has pleaded not responsible to 1 depend of fraud by abuse of place between Jan 1, 2012 and Dec 21, 2017, particularly whereas occupying the place of trustee, which he dishonestly abused concerning resort and taxi bills aspiring to make monetary achieve.
The South East London Department (SELB) of the RSPCA has three charity outlets in West Norwood, Grove Park and Sydenham. Mr Mawson was the SELB secretary since 2009.
“He exercised management over the SELB’s financial institution accounts and was, we are saying, extra lively within the every day operating than others, anyway extra busy than he would admit.”
Mr Mawson sometimes booked Premier Inn rooms and spent over £18,000 on the SELB Barclaycard; over £43,000 on a Co-op debit card and over £29,000 on a CAF Financial institution company account, the trial heard.
436 nights at Premier Inn
Between 2013 and 2017, Mr Mawson loved a complete of 436 nights at numerous Premier Inn’s paid for by the RSPCA’s accounts.
“Nevertheless, the true quantity is more likely to be a lot bigger as particular person funds via the financial institution statements might signify a couple of nights’ keep,” defined Mr Hallworth.
“There was no charity enterprise happening that may justify these resort stays or taxi journeys.”
£10,000 on taxis
Taxi agency Addison Lee obtained over £10,000 from RSPCA accounts for journeys booked by Mr Mawson.
Finally the police had been alerted by Gerda Glage, the SELB chairman, and her husband Ivan Home, and a forensic audit was carried out on their accounts between 2012 and 2018.
Mr Mawson was faraway from his RSPCA put up in September, 2018 and later questioned by law enforcement officials.
“He claimed that it was no secret that he was utilizing charity funds for resort and taxi bills and that he submitted related claims.”
The prosecution additionally produced a map of pointless taxi journeys billed by Mr Mawson.
‘Dodgy neighbour’
Mr Mawson mentioned a “dodgy neighbour” who had no less than one spell in jail resulted in Premier Inn permitting him to remain for added nights.
Nevertheless, Mr Mawson by no means referred to as the police about any points with the neighbour, mentioned the prosecutor.
“Even assuming that the charity was conscious of this, which isn’t accepted, and endorsed his use of the charity’s financial institution accounts for that function, which can be not accepted, there have been the truth is 84 events when the charity paid for Premier Inn bookings when his dodgy neighbour can’t have been a problem to him, as a result of he was in jail.
“So even for those who had been to offer him the advantage of the doubt about among the bills it’s troublesome to see any defence to these bookings the place no charity enterprise was going down or when his dodgy neighbour was in jail.”
The trial is anticipated to final seven days.
