Six ex-staff at Copland Community School in Wembley will be cleared of £2.7m bonus fraud tomorrow
Copland Community School is in Cecil Avenue, Wembley - Credit: Archant
Six former staff at a school in Wembley are to be formally cleared of a £2.7million bonus fraud on Brent Council, it has been announced today.
Copland Community School is in Cecil Avenue, Wembley - Credit: Archant
Sir Alan Davies, 65, was accused of being embroiled in a plot to pay out improper bonuses between April 2003 and June 2009 while he was headmaster of Copland Community School in Cecil Avenue, Wembley.
Southwark Crown Court heard Davies, who was decorated for his services to education, was said to have received more than £900,000 in ‘inappropriate payments’.
But he will be cleared of the conspiracy after prosecutors accepted guilty pleas to six counts of false accounting between April 2007 and June 2009 today.
Prosecutors initially claimed the false accounting was part of a plot to cover up his alleged crimes.
Davies admitted tampering with dates on payroll forms but insisted the cash was honestly paid to and received by him.
As a result, he will no longer stand for conspiracy to defraud.
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He will also be cleared of money laundering in respect of an allegation he transferred more than £270,000 from the alleged scam from a NatWest bank account into a Spanish account in May 2008.
Dr Richard Evans, 55, former deputy head, Dr Indravadan Patel, 73, ex-chair of governors, Columbus Udokoro, 62, former school bursar, Michelle McKenzie, 53, ex- HR manager and Martin Day, 58, former-vice chair of governors, are also expected to be formally cleared of conspiracy to defraud tomorrow.
All six had denied any wrong doing.
William Clegg QC, defending, said it was agreed with the prosecution ‘that all monies paid to Sir Alan were honestly paid to him and honestly received by him.
The case was adjourned until tomorrow when Davies, who admitted six counts of false accounting, is sentenced.
