• Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • LATIF
  • Conferences
  • Dashboard
  • Edit My Profile
  • Log In
  • Logout
  • Register
  • Edit this post

Room 151

  • 151 BRIEF

    What's New?

  • LGA calls for government support as regulators face staffing issues

    May 19, 2022

  • WMCA signs £4bn investment agreement with L&G

    May 18, 2022

  • Bill will give UK Infrastructure Bank power to lend directly to councils

    May 18, 2022

  • £400bn pension group collaborates on climate transition initiative

    May 17, 2022

  • CIPFA rejects proposal for vote on publication of fraud hub report

    May 17, 2022

  • John Turnbull elected president of the SLT

    May 12, 2022

  • Treasury
  • Technical
  • Funding
  • Resources
  • LGPS
  • Development
  • 151 News
  • Blogs
    • David Green
    • Agent 151
    • Dan Bates
    • Richard Harbord
    • Stephen Sheen
    • James Bevan
    • Steve Bishop
    • Cllr John Clancy
    • David Crum
    • Graham Liddell
    • Ian O’Donnell
    • Jackie Shute
  • Interviews
  • Briefs

Former interim-CIO found guilty of £1m LGPS fraud

0
  • by Editor
  • in 151 News · LGPS
  • — 23 Oct, 2018

Photo (cropped): diegoparra/Pixabay, CC0

Westminster City Council Pension Fund’s former interim chief investment officer (CIO) has been convicted of stealing almost a million pounds from the fund.

Ian Woodall was found guilty of fraud and money laundering last week after a ten-day trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Woodall’s crime was picked up after auditors, in 2013 noticed four suspicious transactions, made in 2010, totalling £925,886 for which no records could be found.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police after the trial, said Woodall had: “diverted pension funds through Swiss bank accounts and then back into the UK, where he distributed the money to both his personal and company bank accounts.

“He then used the stolen money to fund the purchase of his house, cars and to support his lifestyle.”

Woodall had been employed by the council since 2003 and was appointed as interim chief investment officer of the pension fund in 2008, with the fraudster operating through his own company, Lonkal Consulting.

In 2010, the fund appointed a permanent CIO and Woodall moved on.

The first of the fraudulent transactions in April 2010, made in Swiss Francs, totalled £36,950. Two more transactions of £124,500 and £22,392 were made in August 2010, with a final transfer of £741,000 made in September the same year.

The council decided to report the matter to the Metropolitan Police, and an investigation was carried out by the Fraud Squad, resulting in the prosecution.

Detective Sergeant Andrew Bailey, of the Fraud Squad, said: “Woodall was a professional man and part of his role was [to] look after the pensions of hard working council staff, money people were counting on to support them in retirement.

“However, Woodall betrayed his colleagues and his employers, using other people’s savings to fund his lifestyle. Thankfully his criminality was uncovered by auditors and the resulting police investigation has brought him to justice. Work is being carried out to recover the stolen money and the MPS are determined to ensure Woodall’s crime will not pay.”

A Westminster City Council statement said: “This was a serious breach of the council’s trust from a senior employee, resulting in a detailed police investigation.

“This was a significant time ago. Since then we have changed our processes to make them even more robust and kept these under review.

“The fact we were able to pick this up and successfully prosecute is positive and we will now do all that we can to recoup this money through the courts.”

Woodall will be sentenced on Friday, 16 November.

Get the LGPS Quarterly Briefing

Share

You may also like...

  • Ryan Boothroyd: Post-covid world holds opportunity for long-term LGPS investors 28th Apr, 2021
  • The net-zero challenge for LGPS funds 7th Apr, 2022
  • LGPS: Top stories 2021 15th Dec, 2021
  • Pension power: beyond net zero 4th Feb, 2022

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • Register to become a Room151 user

  • Latest tweets

    Room151 19 hours ago

    Treasury to restrict PWLB loans to councils at risk of non-repayment: The Treasury has released new guidance that restricts local authorities’ access to Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) advances if there is a “more than negligible risk” of a council’s… dlvr.it/SQhLTV pic.twitter.com/vBsS7xMJdb

    Room151 19 hours ago

    Mixed reaction to proposed government intervention powers: There has been a mixed reaction to the government’s legislative plans to strengthen its intervention powers over local authority finances. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill has proposed… dlvr.it/SQhLMB pic.twitter.com/50foWxpPGs

    Room151 20 hours ago

    Post-Brexit struggles for national and local government regulators. @LGAcomms @NAOorguk Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 room151.co.uk/brief/lga-call… #Brexit #government pic.twitter.com/s3c8ySGy5G

    Room151 1 day ago

    CIPFA: a question of transparency: Roman Haluszczak’s campaign for publication of the independent report into the collapse of CIPFA’s London Counter Fraud Hub has been rejected again by the institute. He is now calling for[...] dlvr.it/SQgC5V pic.twitter.com/08fWsHFF4g

    Room151 2 days ago

    Back to the future for the PWLB: The Public Works Loan Board is tightening its lending criteria to ensure that loans will be repaid by local government borrowers. But, asks Peter Findlay, shouldn’t they have been doing[...] dlvr.it/SQcmmm pic.twitter.com/bVv4fe0Xlv

    Room151 2 days ago

    Great piece from Peter Findlay on the PWLB’s tightening of its lending criteria. He raises some pointed questions for the Treasury and explains why the ‘casino council’ characterisation was simplistic and inaccurate. #PWLB #localgov room151.co.uk/treasury/back-…

    Room151 2 days ago

    The Queen's speech highlighted the need for accelerating UK infrastructure investment into levelling up projects and cutting emissions. @UKInfraBank #QueensSpeech #ClimateAction #emissions Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 room151.co.uk/brief/bill-wil… pic.twitter.com/hFmF2veVIa

    Room151 2 days ago

    Huge funding heading to the @WestMids_CA from @landg. @andy4wm #LevellingUp #netzero #regeneration Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 room151.co.uk/brief/wmca-sig… pic.twitter.com/ajhZhia6mx

    Room151 2 days ago

    LGPS governance, Cagney and Lacey style: What regulatory response can be expected following the publication of the Good Governance project’s Phase 3 report and the closure of the Single Code of Practice consultation? Susan Black offers[...] dlvr.it/SQbfXf pic.twitter.com/xwqHOEu2AP

    Room151 3 days ago

    More evidence of the importance of emerging markets in the journey to net-zero. @BordertoCoast @BrunelPP @northernlgps @EAPensionFund @WYPF_LGPS Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 #LGPS #NetZero #NetZeroCarbon #EmergingMarkets room151.co.uk/brief/400bn-pe… pic.twitter.com/qCm0EGxzLn

    Room151 1 week ago

    ‘Urgent consultation’ issued in response to continuing audit delays: CIPFA and the Local Authority Scotland Accounts Advisory Committee (LASAAC) have announced another “urgent consultation” to consider proposals to address the latest issue that has led… dlvr.it/SQJ0kV pic.twitter.com/s6vw0bnGXO

    Room151 1 week ago

    Bags of capacity – now to housing delivery: HRAs have been freed up and councils are starting to invest, but some remain cautious, writes Steve Partridge. He suggests that a minimum of £10bn of additional borrowing could be[...] dlvr.it/SQDvxk pic.twitter.com/yZmoWzHv6U

    Room151 1 week ago

    Bags of capacity – now to housing delivery room151.co.uk/treasury/bags-…

  • Categories

    • 151 News
    • Agent 151
    • Audit
    • Blogs
    • Business rates
    • Chris Buss
    • Cllr John Clancy
    • Council tax
    • Dan Bates
    • David Crum
    • David Green
    • Development
    • Education
    • Forum
    • Funding
    • Governance
    • Graham Liddell
    • Housing
    • Ian O'Donnell
    • Infrastructure
    • Interviews
    • Jackie Shute
    • James Bevan
    • Jobs
    • Levelling up
    • LGPS
    • Mark Finnegan
    • Net Zero
    • Private markets
    • Recent Posts
    • Regulation
    • Resources
    • Responsible investing
    • Richard Harbord
    • Risk management
    • Social care
    • Stephen Fitzgerald
    • Stephen Sheen
    • Steve Bishop
    • Technical
    • Transport
    • Treasury
    • Uncategorized
    • William Bourne
  • Archives

    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
  • Previous story Learning curve – the power of strategic forecasting
  • Next story Budget 2018 – a stepping stone to a truly 21st century Spending Review?

© Copyright 2022 Room 151. Typegrid Theme by WPBandit.

0 shares