Inquiry finds ‘serious failures’ allowed former clerk to steal over £72,000 from RAF Honington charities

An inquiry has ruled that ‘serious governance and management failures’ allowed a former clerk at RAF Honington to steal more than £72,000 from two mess charities.

Zowie Davis was jailed in May 2016 for 18 months after pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position against two RAF Honington mess charities involving £72,690.

Following her sentencing, the Charity Commission launched a class inquiry into all RAF mess charities, which provide facilities and activities for personnel, because they use the same financial controls and procedures as RAF Honington.

In a report published last week, it found there were ‘serious governance and management failures and an ineffective application of basic safeguards’.

Harvey Grenville, head of investigations and enforcement at the Charity Commission, said the RAF ‘failed to adequately protect the funds at RAF Honington, thereby allowing an unscrupulous individual to steal significant sums’.

He added: “The fraud was so significant for these mess charities that it left them in a precarious financial position which could have resulted in their collapse and had a direct impact on serving RAF personnel. It also exposed wider failures in the control and assurance systems used by the RAF.”

The inquiry concluded that:

• Charity funds at RAF Honington were placed at undue risk by serious failures to ensure basic financial controls were followed.

• There was a failure to ensure that accounting records were maintained and preserved.

• Although the fraud was reported to the civil and military police when discovered in 2014, other reasonable steps were not taken in a timely manner at RAF Honington, or more widely across the RAF mess fund estate to address the risk and issues from the fraud.

Ipswich Crown Court heard that Davis failed to keep proper records in her role between February 2012 and October 2014.

• Read more: Civilian RAF Honington employee is jailed for fraud
• Read more: RAF fraudster cannot pay back money, court hears

In August 2016, the RAF set up its own inquiry and found losses of more than £200,000 over four years.

The Commission noted that since 2016 the RAF had ‘made good the losses to charity funds’ and ‘acted to address the issues at Honington and the broader systematic risks identified’.

An RAF spokesman said: “We welcome the Charity Commission’s report into RAF mess charities, and we have already taken action to address any issues in the report.

“We are committed to ensuring a robust system of policies, procedures and assurances is in place to mitigate against risk.”