British Policeman Sentenced To 10 Months In Prison For Fraud

[sriracha john]

Former anti-terror policeman Richard de Cadenet spent £6,452 on his Scotland Yard Amex card to take his mistress to Thailand

Anti-terror detective fiddled expenses to fuel £73,000 spending spree on lavish holidays with mistress and football matches

An anti-terror detective was jailed yesterday after spending more than £73,000 of taxpayers’ money on his force credit card.

Richard de Cadenet, 38, indulged in a lavish holiday with his mistress and a box at a Premiership football club while also splashing out on clothes and electrical goods.

The experienced detective sergeant, who worked on the July 7 London bombings, made 415 transactions on the American Express card in 15 months. Only 28 were legitimate.

He was sentenced to ten months in prison after pleading guilty to a count of misfeasance in a public office at Southwark Crown Court, South London.

De Cadenet, who has been married three times, quit the Metropolitan Police in April after being charged.

He used the force’s credit card to pay £9,000 for his wife, a friend and his children to go to Mexico.

De Cadenet also used £6,452 to take his mistress to Thailand after the breakdown of his marriage.

He withdrew £18,000 from cash machines and racked up £5,910 for supermarket bills, £3,500 on clothes and £3,000 on electrical goods.

None of the £73,669 he squandered has been recovered.

De Cadenet was caught by a Met Police investigation last year into the potential misuse of 3,500 Amex cards issued to officers from 2006.

He told officers he also owed £11,000 on a personal card and had other debts.

More than 1,400 Met Amex cards were withdrawn after about £2 million of expenses was unaccounted for.

Much of the money was spent on legitimate expenses, but some officers allegedly used the cards to pay for holidays and Rolex watches. One is said to have used his Met card to pay for his wife’s plastic surgery.

The court heard the force has a new credit card system with ‘stricter controls’.

De Cadenet had received glowing reports since joining the Met in 1996 after a career in the Merchant Navy and RAF where he served in the Gulf War and Bosnia.

But Neil Saunders, defending, said de Cadenet had begun suffering marital difficulties, developed a drink problem and fell into debt. He said it appeared the officer had been trying to ‘buy the affections’ of those closest to him and had been ‘simply unable to cope’. He said de Cadenet, who attempted suicide last year, had shown remorse.

Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC described the offence as a ‘serious breach of trust’. He upheld a court order banning publication of the detective’s full address and photograph due to fears for his safety because of his anti-terror work.

About 30 cases involving the Amex cards have been sent to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

- The Daily Mail (UK) / 2008-09-23

=======================================================================

Jail for former detective who ran up £73,000 credit card bill

A former Scotland Yard detective sergeant was jailed for 10 months yesterday for misusing his police credit card, spending tens of thousands of pounds on holidays in Thailand and Mexico and on a Premier League football club's executive box.

The case is one of nearly 30 of alleged credit card misuse by Metropolitan police officers which have been referred for investigation in the last two years.

Richard de Cadenet, 39, a former detective sergeant in specialist operations, which included anti-terrorism, pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office in June. Southwark crown court heard that, over a period of 15 months between July 2006 and October 2007, he spent more than £73,000 on himself via an American Express card issued for use while on official business for the Metropolitan police.

His expenditure included a holiday in Mexico, costing more than £9,000, and one in Thailand worth more than £6,000. He also used the card to buy £3,500 worth of clothes and to pay for an executive box at a Premier League club. More than £18,000 in cash was also withdrawn with the card and thousands were spent at supermarkets and in electrical goods stores.

De Cadenet joined the Metropolitan police in 1996 after serving in the RAF. He was regarded as a high-flyer and was one of the officers involved in the investigation of the July 7 bombings. He was suspended in April this year and resigned shortly afterwards.

David Levy, prosecuting, told the court De Cadenet was meant to use his credit card only for legitimate expenses such as travel on police business and hotel costs. The monthly checks on his expenditure on the card which should have been carried out had not taken place.

Neil Saunders, defending, said De Cadenet had emerged as a "class leader" at Hendon police training college and his work had been highly regarded by his superiors. However, De Cadenet had experienced marital difficulties and developed a drink problem. He already had serious debts before his spending spree with the credit card began. "He was buying what he thought was attention and affection," said Saunders.

Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC told De Cadenet he would have to serve half of a 10-month sentence in prison and the remainder if he got into any further trouble within the overall period of the sentence.

Deborah Glass, London commissioner for the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which oversaw the investigation, said: "This was a serious misuse of the public's money. I hope the sentence reassures [Londoners] that abuse of the system will not be tolerated."

The Metropolitan police has been auditing the expenditure on 3,500 corporate charge cards in use since 2006. To date, the Met's directorate of public standards has referred 25 cases regarding officers' use of their American Express charge cards to the IPCC and the Metropolitan police authority has referred a further two.

- Guardian (UK) / 2008-09-23

[waveydavey]

mmmmm........ 5 months in prison for 73,000 pounds. I think many people would take that......

[Scott]

Bringing the mistress to Thailand....a little like bringing sand to the beach!

Well, it's nice to know that it's not just the local BIB that are less than honorable. At least they only shake down drivers, rather than the entire taxpaying public!

[NanLaew]

Once he gets out, he can come on over to Pattaya and get himself set up in a beer bar. He'll fit right in.

[PhilHarries]

Bringing the mistress to Thailand....a little like bringing sand to the beach!

Well, it's nice to know that it's not just the local BIB that are less than honorable. At least they only shake down drivers, rather than the entire taxpaying public!

and shoot and murder innocent tourists, and force false confessions from innocent Thai citizens, and involve themselves in various illegal activities, scams etc.

At least this copper had the common decency to resign, as opposed to sitting it out on suspension, rather that the BiB in Pai who is AFAIK still working in the police force.

btw NanLaew he'll find it difficult setting up a beer bar anywhere with no money. You do need money to set up a Pattaya beer bar after which time you will have no further money problems. No money granted, but as money is the root of all evil the formula simplifies to : No money = No problems.

[Wrong Turn]

mmmmm........ 5 months in prison for 73,000 pounds. I think many people would take that......

Yes. Not a very harsh sentence. Hopefully he's fired.

[imaneggspurt]

Absolutely apalling and unforgiveable, how dare he bring a woman to thailand,.

[Ricardo]

The monthly checks on his expenditure on the card which should have been carried out had not taken place.[/b]

- Guardian (UK) / 2008-09-23

Hopefully the administrative/finance staff, who set up this badly-designed system, will also be 'out the door', and not just moved to an inactive post ?

Edited September 23, 2008 by Ricardo

[imaneggspurt]

The monthly checks on his expenditure on the card which should have been carried out had not taken place.[/b]

- Guardian (UK) / 2008-09-23

Hopefully the administrative/finance staff, who set up this badly-designed system, will also be 'out the door', and not just moved to an inactive post ?

too right, if they didnt see that lot building up it must be staffed by stevie wonder and ray charles !

[GungaDin]

Absolutely apalling and unforgiveable, how dare he bring a woman to thailand,.

Not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[sriracha john]

More than 1,400 Met Amex cards were withdrawn after about £2 million of expenses was unaccounted for.

- The Daily Mail (UK) / 2008-09-23

=======================================================================

The case is one of nearly 30 of alleged credit card misuse by Metropolitan police officers which have been referred for investigation in the last two years.

- Guardian (UK) / 2008-09-23

This is what caught my attention... the shear number of people involved and the volume of the misuse.

He certainly didn't "act alone".... it appears to have been a wide-spread problem.

As for fixing it...

Hopefully the administrative/finance staff, who set up this badly-designed system, will also be 'out the door', and not just moved to an inactive post ?

I don't have much faith in...

Deborah Glass, London commissioner for the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which oversaw the investigation, said: "This was a serious misuse of the public's money. I hope the sentence reassures [Londoners] that abuse of the system will not be tolerated."

because in the end...

Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC told De Cadenet he would have to serve half of a 10-month sentence in prison

and that's for...

£73,000

which is 4,571,363 baht.

[Maigo6]

mmmmm........ 5 months in prison for 73,000 pounds. I think many people would take that......

Yep....

And probably 4 Months of that will be spent in a catagory 'D' open prison, own key to own room, Gym, Cinema, good food, and all the social workers on hand to advise him on what he can claim for from the Social Security when he's released.

And of course he'll also be getting paid whilst in Jail a sum weekly from Social Security whilst in Jail, so he can afford to buy from the Prison Shop, Cigarettes, snacks, phone cards etc.

If he's a good boy he'll be eligible to apply do a month or so of that 5 months at home on H.D.C. ( Home Detention Curfew ) as a tagged offender.

Not as pleasant a jail stay as Scandanavian Countries or Holland, but it ain't a bad deal !

[PhilHarries]

More than 1,400 Met Amex cards were withdrawn after about £2 million of expenses was unaccounted for.

- The Daily Mail (UK) / 2008-09-23

=======================================================================

The case is one of nearly 30 of alleged credit card misuse by Metropolitan police officers which have been referred for investigation in the last two years.

- Guardian (UK) / 2008-09-23

This is what caught my attention... the shear number of people involved and the volume of the misuse.

He certainly didn't "act alone".... it appears to have been a wide-spread problem.

AFAIK the Amex card is not a credit card but a charge card. There is no minimum payment, you pay the lot off when it's due or your card is blocked. Or that's how it used to work when I had a corporate card.

Most of us in the company had a corporate card and it was impressed on us that it is our own personal card and it was our own responsibility to pay it off by the due date. It was also stated that it was for company business alone and not for private transactions. I think most of us used it for personal purchases whilst on business trips and paid it off when the bill came in. Lucky our misdemeanours didn't have to endure the searing blast of the ThaiVisa judicial system otherwise for sure it would be death row as a minimum.

Don't know how many officers the Met has or what proportion of them have Amex cards but 30 transgressions over two years hardly seems a major problem. Especially bearing in mind that they are 30 alleged cases and many of those may have paid off the bill monthly thus the only problem is they used the cards for personal matters.

[cymruambyth1]

mmmmm........ 5 months in prison for 73,000 pounds. I think many people would take that......

Yes. Not a very harsh sentence. Hopefully he's fired.

Don't they just move bent coppers to an 'inactive post'?

[benjamat]

More than 1,400 Met Amex cards were withdrawn after about £2 million of expenses was unaccounted for.

- The Daily Mail (UK) / 2008-09-23

=======================================================================

The case is one of nearly 30 of alleged credit card misuse by Metropolitan police officers which have been referred for investigation in the last two years.

- Guardian (UK) / 2008-09-23

This is what caught my attention... the shear number of people involved and the volume of the misuse.

He certainly didn't "act alone".... it appears to have been a wide-spread problem.

AFAIK the Amex card is not a credit card but a charge card. There is no minimum payment, you pay the lot off when it's due or your card is blocked. Or that's how it used to work when I had a corporate card.

Most of us in the company had a corporate card and it was impressed on us that it is our own personal card and it was our own responsibility to pay it off by the due date. It was also stated that it was for company business alone and not for private transactions. I think most of us used it for personal purchases whilst on business trips and paid it off when the bill came in. Lucky our misdemeanours didn't have to endure the searing blast of the ThaiVisa judicial system otherwise for sure it would be death row as a minimum.

Don't know how many officers the Met has or what proportion of them have Amex cards but 30 transgressions over two years hardly seems a major problem. Especially bearing in mind that they are 30 alleged cases and many of those may have paid off the bill monthly thus the only problem is they used the cards for personal matters.

£2,000,000 not accounted for and suspicians over 1400 cards, doesnt seem a minor issue to me, this is tax payers money.

I too would like to know what happened to the clowns that designed the system, nothing I expect.

[Maigo6]

Not a lot of posts regarding this thread, if the Policeman had been a Thai Policeman, we would have had 427 replies from Farangs stating that it could only happen in Thailand.

And strangely enough, some people really do believe that police and political corruption and is non existant in the west.

Total <deleted>.

I used to work for a nationalised industry years ago, an entire office of men resigned when there was to be an investigation into corruption, they were all on the take.

So would I have been had I been in that department too !

Edited September 23, 2008 by Maigo6

[bruceboy]

That guys was not very sharp.

[sassienie]

Thailand is a real soft touch for these criminals.

10 months in clink for stealing £73000, that`s £ 7300 per month.

Who says crime doesnt pay?

[imaneggspurt]

mmmmm........ 5 months in prison for 73,000 pounds. I think many people would take that......

Yep....

And probably 4 Months of that will be spent in a catagory 'D' open prison, own key to own room, Gym, Cinema, good food, and all the social workers on hand to advise him on what he can claim for from the Social Security when he's released.

And of course he'll also be getting paid whilst in Jail a sum weekly from Social Security whilst in Jail, so he can afford to buy from the Prison Shop, Cigarettes, snacks, phone cards etc.

If he's a good boy he'll be eligible to apply do a month or so of that 5 months at home on H.D.C. ( Home Detention Curfew ) as a tagged offender.

Not as pleasant a jail stay as Scandanavian Countries or Holland, but it ain't a bad deal !

must sound marvelous to the thais !

[Maigo6]

Thailand is a real soft touch for these criminals.

10 months in clink for stealing £73000, that`s £ 7300 per month.

Who says crime doesnt pay?

Sassiene, he never got caught in Thailand, he got caught and sentenced in England.

In England and other western countries, dependent on the crime, crime certainly can pay.

The same charges in Thailand would have probably earned a 5 - 10 year stretch.

[imaneggspurt]

difference is there are some on the take in the uk, but they are ALL on the take in los,.

[Maigo6]

mmmmm........ 5 months in prison for 73,000 pounds. I think many people would take that......

Yep....

And probably 4 Months of that will be spent in a catagory 'D' open prison, own key to own room, Gym, Cinema, good food, and all the social workers on hand to advise him on what he can claim for from the Social Security when he's released.

And of course he'll also be getting paid whilst in Jail a sum weekly from Social Security whilst in Jail, so he can afford to buy from the Prison Shop, Cigarettes, snacks, phone cards etc.

If he's a good boy he'll be eligible to apply do a month or so of that 5 months at home on H.D.C. ( Home Detention Curfew ) as a tagged offender.

Not as pleasant a jail stay as Scandanavian Countries or Holland, but it ain't a bad deal !

must sound marvelous to the thais !

Not just to Thais, have people no real idea why so many crooks want to go to UK to live ?

For one thing, if you get caught you get humane prison conditions, for many immigrants into UK, that's something they cannot ever expect in their own countries. Crime is certainly worth the risk!

The ease in which Social Security payments are made............

It's actually quite a joke, try going back to UK as a UK citizen after not having lived there for 15 years, no matter you paid tax before, no matter you're British, no matter your Father and Grandfather fought or maybe even died for the country, you have to jump through hoops to get what the Albanians are getting on arrival.

It's wrong, and many guy's I know who have a few quid are wanting out of UK, before Thailand was one of the desirable spots, it seems now Thailand isn't. I told them not to worry and things aren't so bad, but hey, you just can't convince some people.

Edited September 23, 2008 by Maigo6

[roygsd]

mmmmm........ 5 months in prison for 73,000 pounds. I think many people would take that......

Yep....

And probably 4 Months of that will be spent in a catagory 'D' open prison, own key to own room, Gym, Cinema, good food, and all the social workers on hand to advise him on what he can claim for from the Social Security when he's released.

And of course he'll also be getting paid whilst in Jail a sum weekly from Social Security whilst in Jail, so he can afford to buy from the Prison Shop, Cigarettes, snacks, phone cards etc.

If he's a good boy he'll be eligible to apply do a month or so of that 5 months at home on H.D.C. ( Home Detention Curfew ) as a tagged offender.

Not as pleasant a jail stay as Scandanavian Countries or Holland, but it ain't a bad deal !

No restitution order, no claim against his pension which he will still recieve, the coppers should be known as £££s now.

Comnumity care grant of around £2000 on his release if he applies for it plus provided priority accomdation jumping the waiting list via the local council on his release.

not bad, pity the pensioners and other needy folk will never get the same sympathetic handouts.

roy gsd

[mahtin]

Former anti-terror policeman Richard de Cadenet spent £6,452 on his Scotland Yard Amex card to take his mistress to Thailand

Should have tried an insanity plea.

[GungaDin]

I thought that after the West Midlands cop trials, salaries were improved 100%+.

What is a 1st year Bobby's salary now?

[Ricardo]

Thailand is a real soft touch for these criminals.

10 months in clink for stealing £73000, that`s £ 7300 per month.

Who says crime doesnt pay?

Sassiene, he never got caught in Thailand, he got caught and sentenced in England.

In England and other western countries, dependent on the crime, crime certainly can pay.

The same charges in Thailand would have probably earned a 5 - 10 year stretch.

Or possibly a minor position in the new Cabinet ?

[wayfarer108]

I guess Thailand isn't the only country with corrupt police who get off with a slap on the wrist.

[Maigo6]

mmmmm........ 5 months in prison for 73,000 pounds. I think many people would take that......

Yep....

And probably 4 Months of that will be spent in a catagory 'D' open prison, own key to own room, Gym, Cinema, good food, and all the social workers on hand to advise him on what he can claim for from the Social Security when he's released.

And of course he'll also be getting paid whilst in Jail a sum weekly from Social Security whilst in Jail, so he can afford to buy from the Prison Shop, Cigarettes, snacks, phone cards etc.

If he's a good boy he'll be eligible to apply do a month or so of that 5 months at home on H.D.C. ( Home Detention Curfew ) as a tagged offender.

Not as pleasant a jail stay as Scandanavian Countries or Holland, but it ain't a bad deal !

No restitution order, no claim against his pension which he will still recieve, the coppers should be known as £££s now.

Comnumity care grant of around £2000 on his release if he applies for it plus provided priority accomdation jumping the waiting list via the local council on his release.

not bad, pity the pensioners and other needy folk will never get the same sympathetic handouts.

roy gsd

Quite right Roy,

Once you get released you go straight to the social to claim your money!

I have been told that Swedish prisoners that work in prison are given the Swedish Minimum wage and get a terrific bankers cheque at the end of a 5 year sentence.

It's no wonder that many Immigrants into western countries are so unbothered about criminal activities, the repercussions are nothing to worry about, in their own countries they would have been sent to the salt mines for 20 years!

Edited September 24, 2008 by Maigo6