A former church official said to have clocked up more flights than globetrotting broadcaster Alan Whicker has pleaded guilty to defrauding a charity of more than £5 million. Martin Sargeant, 52, who worked as operations manager for the Church of England’s Diocese of London from 2008 until his retirement in August 2019, flew with British Airways more than 180 times over the course of a decade.
Sargeant, who was clerk of the City Church grants committee, funded the trips by defrauding the charitable trust – set up by an Act of Parliament in 1891 to support and fund the restoration of churches and chaired by the Archdeacon of London – of around £5.2 million. He fraudulently requested grants for funding for dysfunctional churches so he could steal the money by transferring funds through church bank accounts he controlled as part of his job.
The money was then funnelled into Sargeant’s accounts or withdrawn in cash or by card payments before he spent it on travel, personal entertainment, and gambling. Sargeant appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Friday to plead guilty to fraud by abuse of position between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2019.
He denied a further count of money laundering, which was left to lie on file. Judge Adam Hiddleston released Sargeant, who is currently living in a residential treatment centre for gambling addicts in Dudley, West Midlands, on conditional bail ahead of sentencing on November 21.
“You have pleaded guilty to the serious matter that is before the court today and you will need to be sentenced for it,” he said.
“You must be prepared on that occasion for a sentence that will result inevitably in immediate custody.”
At an earlier hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, prosecutor Malachy Packenham compared Sergeant to the late Whicker’s World presenter, known for his dispatches from all over the globe. “He flew over 180 times with British Airways, quite an achievement you may think,” he said. “I should imagine even Alan Whicker in his day wouldn’t have clocked up as many flights as this defendant did over this period.”
Sargeant’s barrister Mark Ruffell said his client has a “long-standing gambling addiction” and through his treatment has gone through a “transformation from a broken man” to a “strengthened man, still broken but able to communicate what he has done”.
He said Sargeant has a number of properties in Scotland, which he plans to sell, adding: “The defendant is very keen to write letters of apology to various people.”
Sargeant was granted bail on conditions he does not leave the UK, resides at his address, and does not contact any employee of the Diocese of London save through the officer in the case.
Outlining the case at the earlier hearing, Mr Packenham said: “The defendant was employed as an operations manager within the Diocese of London for the Church of England. He was also clerk for the City Church grants committee, which considered requests from individual churches for refurbishment funding.
“The Crown’s case is this defendant fraudulently requested grants and funding for dysfunctional churches under his control and effectively stole about £5.2 million from transferring monies through the church bank accounts he controlled as part of his job.
“The funds were then funnelled into accounts that he had control of and owned in his name. The monies were funnelled into flights and then also monies were used for the purposes of gambling and losing money in relation to gambling.
“The money, the Crown say, he did take through an abuse of trust was used on personal entertainment or frivolous things like gambling. The simplicity and the level of trust put in the defendant meant he could carry on doing this over 10 years, which is quite extraordinarily.
“Another aggravating feature is the reputations damage it causes the charity. It undermines the reputation of the charity sector full-stop.”
