Neighbours ‘rarely saw’ colonel accused of home fraud

NEIGHBOURS OF an Army colonel accused of fraudulently claiming nearly £100,000 in allowances to send his children to a leading public school have told a court martial they did not often see him at his military accommodation.

Colonel Roddy Lee had been allocated a house at RAF Odiham in Hampshire, which was a convenient location for his job in Andover and his regular travel to Whitehall.

Lee was entitled to claim the Army’s continuity of education allowance (CEA), which enables service personnel to send children to boarding school to prevent disruption to schooling caused by postings around the UK and abroad.

During the academic year 2015/16, he claimed £98,306.80 in school fees and sent his two older children to Marlborough College and the younger children to prep schools in Wiltshire and Dorset.

To receive the allowance, Lee’s wife had to live with him in his service accommodation but prosecutors allege she lived in a house they owned near Devizes, Wiltshire.

The court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire, heard neighbours of Lee at RAF Odiham say they did not often see him or his family after they moved there in November 2015.

Samantha Higgins, who lived next door, said: “The curtains were always closed and if a house is empty on a military base the curtains are open.”

The mother of two, who worked from home, said she would see Lee and his wife’s cars parked outside the property in the mornings.

Puneet Rai, defending, said: “It is fair to say you could have missed sightings of them?”

She replied: “I could have done.”

Lee, who is formerly of the Royal Artillery, denies three charges of fraud alleged to have occurred between May 2015 and October 2016.

The court martial continues.