Jail for church boss stole £5 million to take ‘more flights than Alan Whicker’

A thieving Church of England boss who ‘took more flights than Alan Whicker’ with the proceeds of a £5.2m fraud has been was jailed for five years.

Martin Sargeant, 52, was head of operations for the Diocese of London, which controls churches and their coffers in the capital.

He requested cash for ‘dysfunctional churches’ and the money went straight into his pocket.

Prosecutor Joey Kwong said Sargeant began his role as head of operations for the Dioceses of London in 2007.

‘He was responsible for…raising financial resources for the restoration of some of the 33 city churches

‘Over a period of 11 years he defrauded the church… in a sophisticated nature… he made multiple applications for funding which were transferred to multiple bank accounts he controlled.’

Sarjeant pocketed just over £5.2m and the cash was ‘lavished on his lifestyle’

He bought seven properties, three of them in Scotland worth £1m ‘including a riverside log cabin which can be rented out as a business,’ said the prosecutor.

Mr Kwong said a statement from an American Express bank account showed Sarjeant spent £2,700 at fashion store Ted Baker in February 2012.

‘In January 2013, £1,616 spent at Burberry and £4,000 spent on hotels in the same month … and in the three months between May and July 2013 he spent £30,000 at the Soho Hotel in London,’ Mr Kwong said.

Sargeant was a BA frequent flyer who flew over 180 times with the airline between 2010 and 2019, with flights to New York and other such destinations, the court heard.

He also flew to Boston, Miami, Dallas, San Francisco, Hamburg, Rome, Copenhagen, the Maldives, Venice, Brussels and Barcelona.

The Diocese of London have not been able to maintain their buildings and some have been closed to the public, according to an impact statement read to the court.

Mr Kwong added: ‘The police financial analysis say over £800,000 was spent on housing and £600,000 on investments.’

Mark Ruffell, defending, said Sargeant has a ‘long-standing gambling addiction.’

He told the court: ‘This wasn’t a fraud from the start, It was a fraud that came about because he had influence with substantial amounts of money.

‘He explained at the start of that interview that he had a gambling addiction and at some points was losing £20,000 a day from online fruit machines.

‘He has never bet on a horse only ever on a fruit machine either in person or online.’

Mr Ruffell said Sargeant’s gambling addiction began when he was just 15 and would bunk off school to place bets.

‘He described himself in the police interview as weak and pathetic, he says ‘It went on for some time …months and years without doing anything and when it started again, I just lost control…‘I’m not daft, I’m intelligent, I’m not making excuses, I accept I should’ve known…I was doing a really good job and I was promoted and that’s when I had the ability to do this stuff… it was stupid, I had a good name… I was getting good stuff done’ Mr Ruffell said.

Mr Ruffell told the court that Sargeant ‘created a fantasy life to hide lies’ and that he is ‘sorry for everything.’

Sargeant, of Maughan Street, Dudley, West Midlands, admitted count of fraud by abuse of position.

Earlier Malachy Packenham, prosecuting, referenced the late Alan Whicker, who presented
the popular travel documentary series Whicker’s World on TV from 1958 to 1994, when he said:

‘Alan Whicker would not have clocked up as many flights as this defendant did.’

‘Monies were used for the purposes of gambling. There is evidence that from 2010 to about 2021, he flew over 180 times with British Airways.’

Jailing the fraudster for five years Judge Michael Grieve, KC, told him: ‘You admitted that as you did this you knew the church was close to bankruptcy.

‘This was a sophisticated fraud carried out systematically for a period 11 years resulting to a massive loss to the churches of London which they could ill afford

‘You are now 53, although years ago you have previous convictions for dishonesty ….in 1995 at Bournemouth Crown Court, you were charged with 19 offences of theft, and you were sentenced to a total of 21 months in prison.

‘Your previous conviction for similar offences is a statutory aggravating factor.

‘It says you suffered from a gambling addiction since your teens which is said to be the underlying motivating forces of this offending

‘I accept you had a very troubled childhood with unresolved consequences in your adult life.

‘It is now recognised gambling can cause serious addiction and can cause serious mental illness.

‘In addition, you were frank and forthright in your admission to the police from your first interview and I accept your genuine remorse

‘The sentence I pass upon you is a term of five years imprisonment. You will have to spend one half of that time in custody, at which point you will be entitled to be released on licence.’

Giorgina Venturella of the CPS said: ‘Sargeant completely abused his position of trust and power to satisfy his own selfish purposes. He took money to fund an expensive lifestyle, including flying around the world and bank rolling a gambling habit.

‘Thanks to the exhaustive work of the Metropolitan Police and the CPS, we secured justice in this case against a defendant who defrauded much needed church charity funds.

‘We will commence proceedings for confiscation orders against any available money and assets from this crime.’

ends