Pensioner who defrauded charity of £250,000 and spent it on Portsmouth pub must pay it all back, rules judge
A FRAUDSTER who swindled a charity’s pension scheme to pay for a pub in Portsmouth has been told to repay the money he took.
Patrick McLarry, 72 of Bere Alston, Devon, defrauded more than £250,000 from Yateley Industries for the Disabled, a charity dedicated to supporting vulnerable adults.
He spent the cash on a home and a warehouse in the south of France, a house in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, and to repay a debt he owed over the purchase of a pub lease for the old Mary Rose pub in St George’s Road, Portsmouth.
McLarry was the charity’s CEO and chairman at the time, and in February was jailed for five years.
But today, a court has ruled that he must also pay back £286,852 to the Yateley Industries for the Disabled pension scheme, to compensate for what he swindled – plus inflation.
It comes after The Pensions Regulator (TPR) secured a confiscation order against McLarry.
Erica Carroll, TPR’s Director of Enforcement said: ‘McLarry abused his position to steal money from the scheme’s members, money which was supposed to help pay for their retirement. Instead, he spent the money on himself.
‘He received a lengthy jail sentence for his crime and quite rightly he must now return the money he stole back to the pension scheme for the benefit of its members. If he fails to hand over the cash, he will have to serve an extra three years in jail and still have to pay up.
‘TPR will not flinch from using every weapon in our arsenal to tackle pension fraudsters and will continue to protect savers’ retirements.’
The order was made at Salisbury Crown Court by judge Recorder James Waddington QC.
McLarry was also ordered to pay £71,477 to cover TPR’s legal costs.
From today, the fraudster has three months to repay the amount, in full.
If he fails to do so, judge Waddington QC has ordered him to serve an additional three-year prison term and he will still be required to pay the money back.
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