Kensington council worker who stole £97,000 from Grenfell victim fund and NHS jailed

Jenny McDonagh spent money meant for survivors on gambling sprees, luxury holidays and shopping

A former Kensington and Chelsea council employee who stole more than £60,000 from a Grenfell victims’ fund and used it for gambling and pampering sprees has been jailed.

Jenny McDonagh also took tens of thousands of pounds of public money from the NHS, bringing the total value of her fraudulent activity to £97,115.

The 39-year-old, who went on luxury holidays to Dubai and Los Angeles and dined in expensive restaurants, was jailed for five-and-a-half years at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday.

McDonagh on the Thames Clipper during a journey paid for using the card of a Grenfell survivor (Metropolitan Police) (Met Police)

Judge Robin Johnson told her: “You knew exactly what these funds were for and the importance of them for the residents.

“The scale of your dishonesty in this fraud beggars belief.

“I do not know your current financial position but I very much hope the funds can be recovered from you.”

McDonagh started working for Kensington and Chelsea council’s dedicated Grenfell Tower finance team in October 2017, after the disaster claimed the lives of 72 people and made many more homeless.

Police said McDonagh stole five pre-paid credit cards intended to support survivors and arranged for them to be topped up from the council’s Grenfell funds.

A picture of McDonagh taken on her birthday in a dress purchased from Hobbs for £99 using the card of Grenfell survivor (Metropolitan Police)

She then used the cards to withdraw cash and make personal purchases, including meals out, cinema trips, hair and beauty treatments and clothes, to a total value of £61,231.

McDonagh also used them to deposit £39,945 into her bank account, where transactions included £32,000 thousands of pounds spent on gambling websites – racking up around £16,000 in losses.

Trips to Paris and Iceland were bought, along with purchases in high street shops including “frivolous items”.

Colleagues told investigators that McDonagh “always had very vocal views of the Grenfell fraudsters, often talking openly about how disgusted she was with these people and that what they were doing was awful”.

One said: “Jenny would be very outspoken about the money the council were paying out to people. She would complain about the amounts of money being paid. To be then taking money from them is appalling.”

Her crimes were discovered when a survivor came forward to claim a pre-paid card only to find that thousands of pounds had already been spent on it.

Police enquiries revealed that McDonagh was already being investigated by the NHS Counter Fraud Unit for fraud offences, after being employed via an agency to work in finance at Medway NHS Foundation Trust in Kent.

Over three weeks in May 2016, she obtained just over £35,000 by using trust funds to pay a supplier which did not exist and funnel the money into her own bank account.

Detective Superintendent Matt Bonner, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “McDonagh is a serial fraudster with no compunction for who she targets.

“She knew she was taking precious funds intended for those who survived the Grenfell Tower tragedy, people who have already been through the most traumatic experience imaginable without then being caught up in McDonagh’s deception.

“Likewise she took public money from the NHS, preventing it from being used for far more worthy reasons. Her actions are truly appalling.

“My thoughts remain with the Grenfell community at this difficult time, the genuine victims who should continue to be at the heart and centre of all we do.”

Edward Daffarn, a survivor of the fire and vice chairman of campaign group Grenfell United, told the court about the impact of the fraud on his community.

“It is like pouring salt on the wounds of bereaved residents,” he said, after the court heard Mcdonagh used a card in his name, which she topped up 17 times, with more than £50,000 passing through the account.

McDonagh in a Burger and Lobster restaurant in London, paid for using the card of Grenfell survivor (Metropolitan Police)

After she was arrested on 1 August she continued to use another remaining credit card to spend more money.

A spokesman for Kensington and Chelsea Council described McDonagh’s actions as “both shocking and unforgivable” after she entered her guilty plea last month.

McDonagh, of Willrose Crescent in Abbey Wood, admitted charges relating to the Grenfell fund including fraud by abuse of position, theft by employee and money laundering.

She also pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position relating to her time working for the NHS.

The case is the latest in a series of fraud prosecutions over money intended for survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire, amid harrowing inquests into the disaster.

Catherine Gould, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McDonagh was outspoken to colleagues about Grenfell fraudsters whilst secretly and dishonestly siphoning money away from true victims.

“She abused the trust placed in her to take personal advantage of a national tragedy and the prison sentence reflects the seriousness of her deliberate deception.”

The CPS has requested that the court consider a Proceeds of Crime Order against McDonagh, which would allow it to recover any potential assets.