Army colonel court martialled over falsely claiming £100,000 for children’s school fees

A COLONEL fraudulently claimed nearly £100,000 in allowances to send his children to private schools, a court martial has heard.

Col Roddy Lee paid “lip service” to regulations so he could claim money to send two children to Marlborough College and another two prep schools, it was alleged. A court martial in Bulford, Wilts, was told he abused a scheme which seeks to prevent disruption to a child’s schooling caused by postings around the UK and abroad.

The Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) enables service personnel of all ranks to send children to boarding school, with up to 90 per cent of the costs covered by the taxpayer. However, to be eligible, the family home cannot remain in the same location for successive postings.

During the school year 2015-16, Col Lee, 52, claimed £98,306.80 in school fees for his children’s education.

Martyn Bowyer, prosecuting, told the court that in 2015 Col Lee was posted to Army headquarters in Andover, meaning his workplace was now less than 50 miles from his home address in Devizes. “The evidence will demonstrate that Col Lee was well aware that his entitlement to continuity of education allowance might be affected by his new posting,” he said.

“As a result [he] obtained service families’ accommodation at RAF Odiham, to ensure that his new address was just outside the 50-mile limit.”

The prosecution allege that Col Lee never intended to move his family from the address in Wiltshire, thereby frustrating the CEA principles. He was under an obligation in receiving the allowance to inform the authorities that his family was not with him.

Mr Bowyer said that Col Lee did use the property at RAF Odiham and that his wife, a junior doctor, did join him from “time to time” but “the RAF Odiham address was more like a weekday crash pad than a family home”.

He accused Col Lee of paying “lip service” to the regulations in order to continuing receiving the allowance for his four children.

Col Lee, late of the Royal Artillery, denies three charges of fraud. The court martial continues.