A former RSPCA trustee is accused of bankrolling more than £100,000 in hotel stays and taxi rides in a fraud on the animal charity’s money, a court has heard.
David Mawson, 50, is accused of abusing his access to the animal charity over the course of six years, between 2012 and 2017, when he was secretary of the RSCPA’s Southeast London Branch.
He is accused of misusing the charity bank accounts and cards “for personal benefit” to spend more than £91,000 on Premier Inn stays and more than £10,000 on Addison Lee taxi rides.
Mawson denies fraud, saying he was “open” with the use of charity money and “everyone knew what I was doing”, Inner London crown court heard.
“It was a fraud committed by David Mawson when he was a trustee of the RSPCA – so this was, we say, a very serious breach of trust by him”, said prosecutor Andrew Hallworth.
“It was committed on a regular basis. What he did was he used the charity’s bank card, using Direct Debits to fund his own lifestyle, free hotels and free taxi rides over that period.
“It was over £100,000 of the charity’s money that he went through. Over £90,000 in hotels and more than £10,000 in taxis.
“He had no right or permission to do what he did, despite anything he may say to the contrary. And as such, he acted dishonestly throughout.”
Mr Hallworth said Mawson made more than £4,000 in legitimate hotel and taxi expenses claims between 2011 and 2015 through RSPCA headquarters.
He told jurors the criminal case is based on Mawson’s use of bank accounts outside of the headquarters expenses claim system.
Mawson was removed from his post in south-east London, which covered RSPCA branches in Grove Park, Sydenham, and West Norwood, and a financial audit uncovered evidence of alleged fraud.
Mr Hallworth said “at least 436 days” in Premier Inns were booked, and Mawson is accused of becoming “increasingly confident in spending increasing amounts of money because he thought he was getting away with it”.
In 2016, it is said he spent around a third of the year staying in hotels.
Mawson was questioned by police and said it was “no secret that he was using charity funds for hotels and taxi expenses”, jurors heard.
He referenced a “dodgy neighbour”, the court heard, as well as “issues with his flat”.
Mr Hallworth said stayed at Premier Inns at London Victoria, Croydon town centre, Twickenham, and Brentford, and it is alleged he spent money on a hotel stay further from work than his own home.
The prosecutor added that they accept Mawson had a neighbour who was in trouble with the police, but he added to the jury: “There are large periods of time when the dodgy neighbour was in prison, when he was still staying in a Premier Inn.”
He said Mawson had a “legitimate way to claim expenses and he didn’t follow that procedure”, and he added that there was “no charity business going on at times that would justify him staying anywhere or taking taxis”.
The court heard RSCPA branches are run by volunteers, who become trustees and make decisions about the day-to-day running of their local activities.
“The whole point of a charity is, you may think, to ensure that as many as possible of its received donations go towards charitable causes”, added Mr Hallworth.
“The point of charity isn’t to line the pockets of trustees.”
Mawson, of Staines Road, Twickenham, denies a single charge of fraud.
The trial continues.
