NEW GRENFELL INSULT
Council worker handing out cash to victims stole £62k to spend on holidays and fine dining
A ‘SERIAL fraudster’ in charge of a public fund for Grenfell Tower survivors stole £62,000 and spent it on foreign breaks and fine dining.
In the aftermath of the disaster, Jenny McDonagh, 39, was recruited by Kensington and Chelsea Council to help victims rebuild their lives.
But just days after starting the finance manager job, she began stealing from credit cards which had been loaded with money to help displaced residents.
McDonagh, who boasted on her CV that she set up the payment system, used the cash to pay for five-star holidays to Dubai, Los Angeles, New York and Iceland.
She also treated herself to expensive haircuts, meals in fancy restaurants – and lost £16,000 by gambling on the internet.
In the latest insult to Grenfell survivors, it emerged that despite being arrested and released earlier this month, she con- tinued to steal from the fund. The accountant pleaded guilty to two offences of fraud, one of theft and another of money laundering at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
During the hearing it emerged that she was also being investigated for pocketing £35,000 from the NHS when she worked in the accounts department at the Medway Foundation Trust in Kent.
She is also under suspicion over an attempted fraud at the time she was the finance operations manager of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The case raises troubling questions over why McDonagh was employed by the council in the wake of the tragedy, which claimed 72 lives on June 14 last year.
Emma Dent Coad, MP for Kensington and Chelsea, said: ‘ How on earth did a council officer steal £62,000 of Grenfell funding without missing it for so long?
‘It brings up very serious questions about who had access to the prepaid cards she used, and who was responsible for auditing this.
‘She may have been making decisions with the lives of vulnerable people. They will be devastated. This is a very serious breach of trust and the council must conduct a full audit of donations to see if any more has been stolen.’
A spokesman for the campaign group Justice4Grenfell said: ‘Some people don’t have any scruples. It is appalling that people take advantage of a situation in which vulnerable people were waiting to be housed. This money could have been used for that purpose.’
Astonishingly, McDonagh secured a job as a finance officer at a mental health charity after leaving the council in disgrace.
She was ordered to resign from the charity job immediately by chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot yesterday and warned not to apply for any similar positions.
Prosecutor Robert Simpson said: ‘She’s someone who seems unable to stop herself. She is a serial fraudster who lives beyond her means and gambles.’
Outlining the case against her, he said: ‘Those survivors who did not have a bank account were given a topped-up card.
‘One victim was given a card when he had a bank account so he asked his social worker for his payments to go direct into his bank account. Miss McDonagh continued keeping the topped-up card alive. She used it for frequent travel – she went to Reykjavik, Iceland, for New Year, trips to Dubai, LA, meals in expensive restaurants; luxuries for herself.’
Mr Simpson described the fraud as ‘unsophisticated’ as all the bookings were made in her name.
‘She spent quite a lot of money on online gambling,’ he added. ‘She spent £32,000 of which £16,000 was winnings and lost roughly £16,000 in online gambling.’
About £50,000 of the cash she stole was put on a card which was set up by accident for survivor Edward Daffarn. When he asked the council to put money directly into his bank account, McDonagh kept the cash card for herself.
She also stole cash meant for Fadumo Ahmed, Sacha Salaabi and Christos Fairbairn.
McDonagh, of Abbey Wood in south London, was granted bail after her husband said she could continue living at home. She must wear an electronic tag and will be sentenced at a later date.
Six fraudsters have been jailed for claiming public funds and donations by pretending to be Grenfell survivors. Derrick Peters, 58, was sentenced to six years last week after claiming his flatmate died in the blaze.