A LONDON civil servant who styled himself the Laird of Tomintoul was
last night starting a seven-and-half-year prison sentence.
Anthony Williams, 55, who had lived the high-life with #5m he had
stolen from Scotland Yard, is now penniless, friendless, and in a state
of shock following the sentence.
In a mad-cap property buying spree in and around Tomintoul, Williams
spent vast sums on the renovation and refurbishment of buildings he
purchased from money stolen from the Metropolitan Police.
He bought himself a barony and thereafter called himself Lord. He
brought employment to the Highlands, but in the wake of his disgrace he
has left scores of local suppliers desperately trying to recoup money he
owed, a judge at the Central Criminal Court was told yesterday.
Yesterday the documentation was completed on a deal with the company
Williams set up, Tomintoul Enterprises Ltd, which will give the 56 trade
creditors 60p in the pound.
As Williams was taken to the cells a broken man from Court No 7 at the
Old Bailey, there was bewilderment over how Scotland Yard, which prides
itself as being one of the most professional police forces in the world,
could have been robbed of such vast sums over an 11-year period.
During that time Williams had lived the life of a millionaire on a
final salary at his arrest of #42,790.
It began as small-scale embezzlement from a Metropolitan Police
charity fund, to pay off debts from a broken marriage, but developed
into a #600,000 year earner for the deputy establishment officer at the
Yard when he was given sole charge of running an account for a long-term
undercover operation.
Yesterday Williams pleaded guilty to 19 speciman charges of theft. He
asked for 535 others to be taken into account.
Scotland Yard was at a loss to explain last night why one man was put
in the extraordinary position of being in sole charge of a special fund
financing a long-term top secret operation into serious organised crime.
That operation is on-going and has not been compromised, according to
sources.
The court was told that such was the security and secrecy of the
Scotland Yard operation that employees in the finance department could
not be told where the money was going. Williams was enabled to draw vast
sums on his own signature without question and he was the only person
who had any notion of the operation's outgoings.
Of the #7,413,761 Williams had requisitioned for the investigation, he
kept more than #5m for himself.
Much of it was spent on buying property in the Highlands and on
renovating and refurbishing that property.
His first investment in the town was for what was described as a
cottage at 2 The Square which cost him #6000. However, renovation and
other expenses meant that he spent a further #400,000 on the building.
Other investments in Tomintoul meant buying property at 39 The Square
for #15,000 and then spending #750,000 to develop it into a restaurant.
He also bought Gordon Lodge for #85,000 and the old bus garage for
#25,000.
In June 1993 he bought the Gordon Arms Hotel for #120,000. He employed
an able manager, and extensive plans for refurbishment and modernisation
were drawn up.
That hotel has since been sold at a low price on the understanding
that the new owner took on the debts for suppliers of furnishings and
carpeting, the court was told.
Williams also bought the Old Fire Station that same year for #21,500.
''What evolved was a double life,'' said Mr Brian Barker, QC,
prosecuting.
Williams had created a new world for himself from the money stolen. He
had bought the Barony of Chirnside, Berwickshire, at an auction in
London and thereafter described himself as Lord Williams.
''The London suburban civil servant became -- when he crossed the
Border into Scotland -- the nobleman and benefactor of Tomintoul.''
However, counsel pointed out, the local people had taken him at face
value. Unknown to them it was stolen money that kept the new Land Rover
at Inverness airport and brought jobs and revitalisation ''to a pretty
Highland village''.
His wife had also been kept in the dark over where the money was
coming from. When explanations were required, and that was not often, it
was put down to a bequest from a relative in Norway.
During yesterday's hearing, Williams sat in the dock with his chin
resting in his hands. Dressed in sober lounge suit, blue striped shirt,
and red tie, he looked every bit the civil servant he was.
Until now he had been on bail. As a consquence his face was suntanned
and he had brought with him a hold-all
continued on Page 7and plastic carrier bags containing all he had been
told he might take with him to jail.
When he left the dock for the cells he left his bags for the security
officer to carry them -- that was until he was called back and politely
told that from now on he might not necessarily expect the services of
servile bearers.
There was no doubting the disbelief in the voice of the Recorder of
London, Sir Lawrence Verney, as he passed sentence. There was no
questioning the shock expressed by Williams when it was delivered.
''It is to be hoped that never again will any individual, however
highly respected, be put in a comparable situation in regard to public
money,'' the judge said.
The accused had been given an immense degree of trust to receive and
make payments without supervision. He had grossly abused this time and
time again.
Even before he had been put in charge of this special budget, Williams
had been stealing from the charity fund.
''The money stolen was wholly used for personal advantage in a
luxurious lifestyle and the acquisition of properties and businesses,''
the judge said. ''The aggrandisement was shown in the assumption of a
baronial title.''
William's legal team made it clear that, while most of his friends had
now disowned him, his second wife, Kay, would stand by him and wait
until he was released from prison to take up their life again.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Condon later told
journalists that he was deeply embarrassed and angry over the whole
scandal.
Neverthless, no-one had resigned or been dismissed in connection with
the thefts but disciplinary proceedings had not been ruled out.
Mr Graham Angel, the Receiver of the Metropolitan Police and the most
senior civil servant in the force, said just #1m was likely to be
recovered out of the #5m Williams stole.
Asked how Williams had been able to get away with it for 11 years, Sir
Paul said: ''Part of the reason was because this was a man who led his
life in compartments.''
He kept the different compartments separate and hid them from his
family, friends, and colleagues.
Earlier, in a statement Sir Paul said the nature of some police work
needed to be kept confidential in the very necessary job of preventing
the most serious and organised crime and catching the country's most
serious criminals.
Williams had used his position and the cover of confidentiality to
commit fraud.
The police commissioner added: ''Confidentiality must never be an
excuse for inadequate financial controls. Immediately this fraud came to
light a full audit of all financial procedures and controls in respect
of confidential operations was instigated,'' he said.
''The review had established that there was no evidence of any other
theft, corruption or fraud and there were no similar weaknesses in the
financial controls of other accounts.''
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