MoD conman admits to fraud

A CROOKED Ministry of Defence worker, who ripped off Her Majesty’s Naval Base on the Clyde with an elaborate fraud, is preparing to face a lengthy jail term.

Conman Kenneth Maltman, 40, who now stays at Colquhoun Road, Milton, appeared in the Cited Court at Dumbarton Sheriff Court in front of Sheriff John Hamilton, where he pleaded guilty.

Shamefaced Maltman sat motionless in the dock as defence lawyer Tom Brown intimated to the court that his client wished to plead guilty to the offence at the earliest possible opportunity.

Fraudster Maltman carried out the pre-mediated crime between April 1, 2013 and June 3, 2014, at the General Services Building, HM Naval Base, Clyde, Helensburgh.

Prosecutor Emma Thomson told the court that Maltman pretended to employees of the Ministry of Defence, Defence Business Services, Cheadle Hume, that he had worked overtime and was entitled to payment, the truth being that he had not worked overtime and induced the Ministry of Defence to pay him the sum of £29,497, which he obtained by fraud.

The sheriff was also told that the matter had originally been on indictment, which could have carried a jail term of up to five years, but was reduced to a summary matter, reducing the sheriff’s sentencing powers to one year.

Sheriff Hamilton deferred sentence until April 4.