War veteran charities "unlikely" to recover losses after fraudster takes £231k

Friday 16 June 2017

A “family man” has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison after fraudulently taking over £230,000 from war veterans’ charities.

Essex-born Kevin Nicholls (58) was found guilty of stealing more than £135,000 from the Jersey United Services Club – the oldest club in the British Isles for armed servicemen - and around £89,000 from the Royal British Legion bar, where he was Treasurer.

During the sentencing, the Court heard that the Treasurer had “abused the trust” of colleagues and members of the clubs that he had “altruistically” decided to help.

Over a period of four years, Nicholls was said to have made nearly 400 transactions totalling £166,770.42 for his own benefit while volunteering at the 400-member-strong JUFSC.

On one occasion, he was said to have scammed one of the members out of £5,000 intended as a loan to the club, after dishonestly telling him that the club was in financial dire straits following the expense of moving to a new premises.

The Court heard that the club’s account was repeatedly used as if it was the Nicholls’ own account – with one transaction showing that money had been used to pay for an iPhone and associated bills, while some payments were made to his wife’s personal account.

However, not only was Nicholls found to have caused both organisations financial strain through his thefts, but poor bookkeeping led to outstanding taxes of over £11,000, which the JUSC are still repaying.

The Crown – represented by Advocate Richard Pedley – moved for a five-year sentence, but Advocate Jane Grace, defending, noted “powerful” mitigation on behalf of the defendant. She cited the defendant’s struggles with alcohol, as well as strong feelings of inadequacy and a keenness to impress his family, who had described him in letters as their “rock.”

“You would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the letters of his wife and stepdaughter,” Advocate Pedley said of their remarks.

In handing down his sentence, Bailiff William Bailhache, remarked that the defendant was “fortunate to have the support” of his loving family.

He used his closing speech as a reminder of dangers of a “lack of controls” in the management of organisations' finances, but warned that this, “…does not in any sense excuse dishonesty.”

For what the Bailiff described as a “prolonged and calculated” breach of trust, Nicholls was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ in prison. Although the full scale of losses were said to be “unlikely” to ever be recovered, Nicholls was ordered to pay £7,000 in compensation to the Royal British Legion and £9,000 to the JUSC.