Five former colleagues escape custody over scam targeting online administration system.

Aformer soldier has been jailed for his role in a fraud that saw more than £900,000 wrongly claimed from the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Personal Administration system.

Former corporal Aaron Stelmach-Purdie, aged 34, operated the scam between November 2014 and January 2016 with the aid of five former colleagues who were working as clerks at Regent’s Park Barracks in central London.

Southwark Crown Court heard that the six defendants benefitted to varying degrees from false claims totaling £911,677.66 over the period submitted through the JRA, which is an online administration system used for salaries, expenses and allowances.

Stelmach-Purdie was said to be involved in all 161 transactions that made up the figure, and the court heard he kept £557,093 of the proceeds of the fraud for himself.

Stelmach-Purdie is believed to have spent at least some of the funds he illegally pocketed on dental work and cosmetic surgery, as well as on designer shoes and luggage.

He previously pleaded guilty to seven counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and one count of money laundering.

At a sentencing hearing yesterday, Stelmach-Purdie was jailed for three years and four months. His five co-defendants escaped custodial sentences.

https://www.civilserviceworld.com//professions/article/aaron-stelmach-purdie-ex-soldier-jailed-900k-mod-fraud