Soldier who stole £1 million from MoD to pay for hair transplant and teeth whitening faces jail
15 April 2025, 08:48 | Updated: 15 April 2025, 09:56
A military clerk who stole nearly £1 million from the Ministry of Defence to pay for a range of cosmetic surgeries in an expenses scam is facing jail.
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Former corporal Aaron Stelmach-Purdie, 34, ran the swindle between November 2014 and January 2016 whilst he worked as a clerk at the Ministry of Defence's administrative headquarters in central London.
The defendant, from Oldham in Lancashire, carried out the scheme to pay for a hair transplant and to fly out to Turkey for teeth-whitening and abdominal implants, a judge sitting at Southwark Crown Court heard on Monday.
The court was told that Stelmach-Purdie manipulated the Ministry of Defence's online platform for the management of staff expenses and allowance claims, defrauding the Government out of £911,677, of which he kept £557,093.
He was found guilty of fraud and money-laundering.
The former corporal used the cash to splash out on nine pairs of Christian Louboutin shoes, a Louis Vuitton luggage set and three fake Patek Philippe watches, which officers found when searching his home.
He now faces jail time, alongside five other military clerks who were also employed at the Regent's Park Barracks.
Former sergeant Roger Clerice, 28, Allan O'Neil, 48, Lee Richards, 41, Anthony Sharwood, 38, and Peter Wilson, 55, appeared in court alongside Stelmach-Purdie after they were convicted over charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud.
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Prosecutor Domonic Connolly told the court: "This case concerns a series of frauds carried out by a number of employees of the Ministry of Defence at their administrative headquarters situated within Regents Park Barracks in Central London.
"These defendants, who were all employed at the Regent's Park Barracks made a series of fictitious claims to expenses and allowances that they were not entitled to.
"As a result of these frauds, there has been a loss of public funds totalling £911,677.66.
"These are public funds that had been demarcated for the defence of the realm and the protection of its armed services."
Prosecutors said the fraud centred around the use of the Joint Personal Administration (JPA) - an online administrative system used by the UK armed forces to pay the salaries of staff, including claims for expenses and allowances.
While he was responsible for the management of claims to expenses and allowances, Stelmach-Purdie used his position to make fraudulent claims on his JPA account and on the accounts of others, the court was told.
He then used the bank accounts of third parties, including his mother and sister, to conceal the proceeds of the fraud, the court heard.
The other defendants told the court they were approached by Stelmach-Purdie in or shortly after December 2014, when he claimed he had found a way to "make some money manipulating JPA", prosecutors said.
Stelmach-Purdie's line manager Clerice, who then worked as a sergeant in the department and was described as a "specialist in administration", received £7,691 from the fraud, and later pleaded guilty to money laundering.
Wilson, a former lance sergeant who retired from the army in October 2015, continued to receive £230,400 in fraudulent claims made by Stelmach-Purdie for months until December 31 2015.
Between June and December 2015, Wilson's JPA account was used to make 28 fraudulent claims totalling £378,662.
Sharwood, a former corporal in the Royal Marines who retired from the Armed Forces in January this year, was involved in eight fraudulent expenses claims made between January 2015 and November 2015, totalling £28,935.
The defendant, from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, admitted to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering in March 2023.
Richards, a former lance sergeant from Amesbury in Wiltshire, was convicted by a jury of 103 fraudulent claims made between March 2015 and January 2016, totalling £434,825.
He retained approximately £160,000 of that sum, the court heard.Wilson, from Kidderminster in Worcestershire, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering in March 2023.
The total value of the fraud he pleaded guilty to is £385,432 involving 28 fraudulent claims made between June 2015 and January 2016.
A total of £378,662.26 passed through his bank account, £149,781 of which he retained, the court was told.
O'Neil, a former sergeant from Droitwich in Worcestershire, was involved in three fraudulent claims totalling £18,218, and has pleaded guilty to money laundering.
Stelmach-Purdie, whom the court heard was involved in all of the 161 fraudulent claims, was dismissed from the Armed Forces in January 2016 after he was convicted and sentenced over four counts of sexual activity with a child.
When interviewed by police shortly after over his fraudulent activity, Stelmach-Purdie said he became involved because of the state of poor mental health brought about by the sexual allegations made against him.
Prosecutor Connolly told the judge: "When he (Stelmach-Purdie) commenced his job in administration, he was aware people were making claims for allowances that they were not entitled to.
"He claimed he felt people knew of these proceedings and would use it against him if he didn't comply with their claims.
"He would allow claims to go through for a percentage in return."
Stelmach-Purdie pleaded guilty to seven counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and one count of money laundering in August 2023.All six defendants are due to be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.
