A priest claims he is unaware of "any financial gains" for his church after a court heard that a town council clerk donated more than £150,000 of stolen public money. Margaret Buckley was jailed on Wednesday for two years and four months after admitting she defrauded Maesteg Town Council.
Buckley, 76, conned councillors who signed blank cheques which she then used to commit fraud totalling £238,205.54 – split across £17,279 to Our Lady & St Patrick church, £134,894.86 to the church's flower group, £82,181.68 to her own account, and £3,850 to her daughter, Cardiff Crown Court heard. An insurance company has reimbursed the council but the firm is expected to make a financial claim against Buckley. You can read the full court report here.
Buckley told police she donated stolen funds so the Catholic church in Monica Street, Maesteg, could pay for repairs. Following her sentencing WalesOnline asked the church where it believed the money had been sourced from, whether it raised any concern over the huge sums being donated, what the money was used for, and whether it had returned any of the funds.
Read next: Police took no action on claim Gareth Thomas passed HIV to ex
The parish priest, Father Edmund Neizer, said in a statement: "Following the investigation undertaken by South Wales Police and the Welsh Audit Office we have met with a representative of the Welsh Audit Office to discuss their findings. The investigation did not find the church guilty of any wrongdoing. The church has fully complied with the investigation throughout.
"Given the circumstances we have initiated our own investigation having been briefed by the Welsh Audit Office and police. The investigation is ongoing. As it stands it appears that the church has not made any financial gains as the consequence of the fraud."
WalesOnline asked on Thursday for clarification on the claim that the church has not made financial gains. A response is yet to be provided.
Audit Wales, which was involved in the investigation into Buckley, said it will issue a report on the fraud "shortly". Its spokeswoman said: "The report will identify failings by the council that the clerk was able to exploit to defraud the council. We will make a series of recommendations for improvement. Our report will reflect that the council has informed us of changes it has made and we will follow up on how these have been addressed at future audits."
Llynfi Valley Labour Party branded the fraud a "desperately sad episode in the proud history of Maesteg Town Council". The party's statement said it was former members of the Labour group on the council who invited Audit Wales to investigate the irregularities.
"We are pleased that the Audit Wales has already acknowledged the changes made to the financial systems now in place at Maesteg Town Council in a direct response to the Audit Wales investigation," the statement reads. "We will be putting a motion to the town council to ask the Audit Wales to return and review the operation of these new financial systems. We will also be asking the town council to put out a statement apologising as a corporate body for this fraud and financial mismanagement and explaining what measures have been put in place to prevent this happening again."
A spokesman for the council said it will wait for the Audit Wales report before issuing a statement on the fraud. He added that a meeting will be held following the report's release where members of the public will be able to ask questions about the case.
Buckley started as a deputy clerk at Maesteg Town Council in 2003 before being promoted to clerk in 2016 when her predecessor retired. She held the position until 2020 when she resigned amid the Audit Wales investigation.
Audit Wales had asked Buckley to provide copies of the accounts but she did not respond. While she was off work with ill health the acting clerk discovered she had falsified invoices and had convinced councillors to sign blank cheques. Buckley had written more than 120 fraudulent cheques from the council between 2015 and 2020.
Buckley was suspended from her role and took some accounts with her. But when police interviewed Buckley she admitted the fraud. Prosecutor Cat Jones told the court: "She said she initially took money to make contributions for repairs to the local church and hadn't managed to pay it back but she accepted the matter got out of hand."
The defendant, of Llwydarth Road, told police: "It's my fault. I don't want anyone else to take the blame... I will take the punishment handed out to me."
When the fraud started to emerge some social media posts made unfounded allegations that councillors were involved, which led to some leaving their roles, the court heard. The clerk who replaced Buckley said the fraud led to a loss of public trust in the council.
Buckley has no previous convictions and the publicity around her offence has been "a significant blow to her", said her barrister Robin Rouch. He added: "Her references speak very highly of her and what she has done in the past. She is wholly remorseful over what has taken place. Her family were wholly oblivious of her actions until they were reported. She is ashamed of the impact on them.
"The church has played a significant role in her life from a very early age. Some would say bizarrely the defendant took it upon herself to ensure the church had funds. The first payment was of £49,000 to the church group and £2,300 to herself so it's clear how it started and what it started for. I have to accept it grew from there."
Mr Rouch said the fraud funded Buckley's "day-to-day expenditure" rather than a "lavish lifestyle". He told the court she did not realise how much she had taken until it "caught up" with her. She has around £29,000 in her bank account which she expects to be taken by the insurance company which reimbursed the council, the court heard.
Judge Shomon Khan told Buckley: "It is quite clear to me you were a highly respected member of the community. You have done much for the church. You were described as caring, responsible, and focused. This criminality has destroyed your reputation. It has undone all your previous good work... No doubt the church would be horrified to find out that [the repair funds] were from criminal money."
He accepted that Buckley is not a risk to the public and is "never going to offend again". But he said he would not suspend the prison term of two years and four months. "Your fraudulent activities were a gross breach of trust," he told her. "You abused the trust of the council and in doing so you abused the trust of the public."
Loud sobbing could then be heard from a family member in the public gallery but Buckley showed no reaction to the jail term other than a slight nod to the judge. You can read more court stories here.
READ NEXT:
