Aug. 31 (UPI) — A local council finance manager in Britain stole £60,000 ($78,000) from a fund for the family of victims of a massive apartment fire that killed 72 people last year, authorities said Thursday.
Jenny McDonagh admitted in court to swiping money from a fund set up for victims of the Grenfell Tower fire, the deadliest residential fire in Britain since World War 2.
Over an 11-month period between October 2017 to August 2018 as she worked at the Kensington and Chelsea borough council, McDonagh deposited money into her own account and spent lavishly on trips to places like Los Angeles and Dubai, as well fancy dinners and online gambling, The Telegraph reported.
“The Crown Prosecution believes Mrs. McDonagh is someone who is a serial fraudster who lives beyond her means, gambles and really has little or no control over her spending,” Prosecutor Robert Simpson said.
McDonagh has been convicted of two offenses of fraud, one of theft and one charge of concealing criminal property.
She has been released on bail and will be sentenced at a later date, BBC reported.
A Kensington and Chelsea Council spokesman called McDonagh’s deeds “shocking and unforgivable.”
“We apologize to the survivors and families for any distress this may cause,” the spokesman said.
