Former Church official accused of defrauding £5m from charity
A FORMER Church official was accused of clocking up more flights than globetrotting broadcaster Alan Whicker as he appeared in court charged with defrauding a charity of £5 million.
Martin Sargeant, 52, worked as oper- ations manager for the Church of England’s Diocese of London from 2008 until his retirement in August 2019 and was clerk of the City church grants committee.
He is accused of defrauding the charitable trust – set up to support and fund the restoration of churches – of around £5.2million over the course of a decade. He is also accused of money laundering after allegedly spending the money on gambling and taking more than 180 flights. Malachy Packenham, on the alleged travel, told Westminster Magistrates’ Court: “Even Alan [Whicker] wouldn’t have clocked up as many flights over this period.”
Mr Sargeant appeared in the dock in Dudley, West Midlands, and gave no indication of plea when charges of fraud by abuse of position and money laundering were put to him. The fraud charge alleges he abused his position as operations manager to make a gain of approximately £5.2million between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2019.
He is accused of fraudulently requesting grants for dysfunctional churches and spending the money on “personal entertainment or frivolous things like gambling”, said Mr Packenham.
The magistrates decided the charges were too serious to be dealt with in the magistrates’ court and the case has been sent to Southwark Crown Court, where Mr Sargeant will appear on September. He was granted bail on conditions he does not leave the UK and does not contact staff at Diocese of London.