A man who set up injured war veterans charity Forces for Good in order to use its funds for his own means has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Christopher O'Neill, an ex-serviceman himself, reportedly established the organisation in North Wales simply to siphon money from it back into paying off his gambling debts and to fund his own luxury lifestyle.

He had received a £125,000 grant from Conwy Council – which has subsequently released a statement saying that no budgets were affected by the fraud and it has repaid the money to the Welsh government in full. The council added that the circumstances of this occurrence are being “fully investigated through a rigorous internal audit”.

The funding was for O’Neill to set up a rehab centre for ex-servicemen in a hotel, but the money ended up being spent on items such as a speedboat. The hotel is now under new ownership.

Mail Online reports that O'Neill was caught out when Forces For Good co-director Mandy Bostwick queried his extravagant lifestyle and asked to see the charity's accounts.

After he refused, Bostwick and fellow co-director Kevin Grey investigated and found £500 where there was supposed to be £90,000 – and immediately suspended O'Neill.

‘Wicked deception’

Reports from yesterday’s sentencing say that Caernarfon Crown Court heard about O'Neill transferring £74,800 from the Forces For Good bank account to his own.

Sentencing Judge Niclas Parry is quoted as calling the crime "a sophisticated, high value scam; a wicked deception on the public purse."

The Judge also said he found the fact that the Welsh Government approved the hotel project without checking basic facts "frankly astounding".

Forces for Good is not listed on the Charity Commission website and no representative could be reached for comment.

 

Want access to all civilsociety.co.uk content? Subscribers gain access to all expert advice, analysis, surveys, special reports and the full archive of content from as little as £43.20 per year. Find out more...