Calls for greater checks after councillor stole more than £1million from public funds to pay for lavish lifestyle

By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter

A councillor has called for greater checks and balances after a former council worker stole £1.1m to buy cars and homes and prop-up his lavish lifestyle.

Councillor Paul Fisher said Ian Woodall’s crimes were something you read about in 1990s Russia and not in London, and called on Westminster council to strengthen its oversight of employees who manage public funds.

Woodall conned colleagues into signing off payments from the council’s pension pot by disguising them as investments, jurors at Southwark Crown Court were told during a trial in 2018.

More than £1m was funnelled between 2009 and 2012 through Swiss bank accounts and into renovating his home in Dorking, Surrey, a new car and the running of various companies, jurors were told.

According to reports at the time, Woodall’s crimes were discovered in 2013 after an audit of the council found a £1m black hole.

The former council worker was found guilty of fraud and money laundering following a trial at Southwark Crown Court in 2018, and sentenced to seven years in jail.

In December 2022, the council was able to reap £370,000 in stolen assets from Woodall through the HM Courts and Tribunal Service Confiscation Unit.

Speaking at an Audit and Performance committee meeting, on Thursday of last week, Cllr Fisher said: “It is astonishing that a man was able to syphon off funds and send them to his Swiss bank account.”

Detective Sergeant Andrew Bailey, of the Met’s Fraud Squad, said at the time that Woodall was meant to be looking after the pensions of “hard-working council staff, money people were counting on to support them in retirement.”

He said: “However, Woodall betrayed his colleagues and his employers, using other people’s savings to fund his lifestyle.

“Thankfully his criminality was uncovered by auditors and the resulting police investigation has brought him to justice.”

He had been working as the interim head of the council’s pensions and investments team for about three years as a contractor.

That sparked an internal audit which raised suspicions about the legitimacy of four payments, according to police.

The council said Woodall’s crimes were uncovered after discrepancies were noticed in the fund’s 2010/11 and 2011/12 accounts.

Judge Stephen Robbins said to Woodall shortly after his sentencing: “You know the time has come when you must be sentenced for this appalling conduct, your dishonesty.

“You occupied a position of trust. This was persistent abuse of that position of trust that you were occupying as financial officer in charge of Westminster council’s pension fund.

“You misappropriated in the order of £1.05 million and went to great lengths to sort that money in Swiss and other bank accounts.”

The council said that anti-fraud policies are now part of the induction package for all new staff and that workers are now required to sign a Conflicts of Interest document.

The council’s 2020-2023 anti-fraud and corruption strategy states that any suspected fraud, corruption or any misconduct directed should be reported immediately. The Council’s strategy aligns with the national strategy published by the Local Government Association (LGA).

Westminster council was contacted for comment but did not provide a publishable response by the time this article was published.

Pictured top: Ian Woodall (Picture: PA)