Soldier who stole £ 1 million from Mod to pay for hair transplantation and teeth whitening …

April 15, 2025, 08:48 | Updated: April 15 2025, 09:56

A military officer who stole almost £ 1m from the Ministry of Defense to pay for a number of cosmetic surgeries in an expense fraud faces prison.

Former Dean Aaron Stelmach-Purdie, 34, ran the disappearance between November 2014 and January 2016, and worked as an employee at the Ministry of Defense Administrative Office in Central London.

The defendant, from Oldham to Lancashire, made the plan to pay for hair transplantation and fly to Turkey for the teeth and abdominal implants, a judge sitting at the Southwark Crown Court on Monday.

The court was informed that Stelmach-Purdie handled the Ministry of Defense’s online platform to manage staff costs and benefits, deceiving the government from £ 911,677, of which it maintained £ 557,093.

Was found guilty of fraud and money legalization.

The former Dean used cash to launch Christian Louboutin shoe pairs, in a Louis Vuitton luggage set and three fake Patek Philippe watches, which officers found in search of his home.

He is now facing prison time, along with five other military employees who were also employed in Regent’s Park Park.

Former Sergeant Roger Clerice, 28, Allan O’Neil, 48, Lee Richards, 41 years old, Anthony Sharwood, 38, and Peter Wilson, 55, appeared in court along with Stelmach-Perdie after being convicted of charges of money laundering and revenue for non-revenue activities and scams.

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Prosecutor Domonic Connolly told the court: “This case concerns a number of scams carried out by many defense ministry officials in their administrative headquarters in the context of Regents Park in Central London.

“These defendants, who were all employed in the Regent’s Park camp, made a number of fantastic claims for expenses and allowances that were not entitled.

“As a result of these fraud, there was a loss of public funds totaling £ 911,677.66.

“These are public funds that were defined to defend the field and protect its armed services.”

Prosecutors said that fraud focused on the use of Joint Administration (JPA) – an electronic administrative system used by the United Kingdom Armed Forces to pay staff salaries, including claims for expenses and benefits.

While he was responsible for managing claims for expenses and allowances, Stelmach-Perdie used his position to make fraudulent claims for his JPA account and the accounts of others, the court said.

He then used third -party bank accounts, including his mother and sister, to hide the proceeds from the fraud, the court heard.

The other defendants told the court that they were approached by Stelmach-Purdie or shortly after December 2014, when he claimed he had found a way to “make some money that manipulates JPA,” prosecutors said.

The Stelmach-Purdie line manager, who then worked as a sergeant in the Department and was described as a “administration expert”, received £ 7,691 from fraud and later found guilty of money laundering.

Wilson, a former Lance sergeant who left the army in October 2015, continued to receive £ 230,400 in fraudulent claims made by Stelmach-Purdie for months until December 31, 2015.

Between June and December 2015, Wilson’s JPA account was used to make 28 fraudulent claims totaling £ 378,662.

Sharwood, a former Dean of the Royal Marines who left the Armed Forces in January this year, participated in eight fraudulent expenses between January 2015 and November 2015, totaling £ 28,935.

The defendant, from Bomsgrove to Worcestershire, acknowledged the conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering in March 2023.

Richards, a former Amesbury Lance Sergeant in Wiltshire, was sentenced by a jury of 103 tributaries between March 2015 and January 2016, totaling £ 434,825.

He kept about £ 160,000 out of this amount, the court heard. Wilson, of Kidderminster in Worcestershire, said guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering in March 2023.

The total value of the fraud he was guilty is £ 385,432 which includes 28 fraudulent claims between June 2015 and January 2016.

A total of £ 378,662.26 passed his bank account, £ 149,781 of which he retained, the court said.

O’Neil, a former Sergeant from Droitwich in Worcestershire, has participated in three deliberate claims totaling £ 18,218 and has been guilty of money laundering.

Stelmach-Purdie, whom the court heard that he was involved in all 161 fraudulent claims, was rejected by the Armed Forces in January 2016 after being sentenced and sentenced to four charges of sexual activity with a child.

When an interview by police shortly after his fraudulent activity, Stelmach-Perdie said he was involved in the situation of bad mental health caused by sexual allegations against him.

Prosecutor Connolly told the judge: “When he began his work in the administration, he knew that people made claims for no right benefits.

“He claimed that he felt that people knew about these processes and would use it against him if he did not comply with their claims.

“Would allow claims for a percentage in return.”

Stelmach-Purdie admitted guilty of seven conspiracy counts to commit fraud and a measurement of money laundering in August 2023. All six defendants are to be sentenced to Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.