The ex-chief of a charity for the disabled has pleaded not guilty to defrauding the charity’s pension scheme of £250,000.

Patrick McLarry, who headed up Yateley Industries for the Disabled in Hampshire, denied fraud at Winchester Crown Court yesterday, 28 May, an offence which holds a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

His wife, Sandra McLarry, also plead not guilty to four counts of money laundering, with a maximum sentence of 14 years, the first case of its type brought by The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

The offences took place between April 2011 and September 2013, at which point Patrick McLarry was both chief executive and chairman of the charity. He was also director of the corporate trustee of the charity’s pension scheme.

The pleas mean they will now appear at Salisbury Crown Court for trial on 11 November.

It is the second criminal conviction brought on Patrick McLarry by TPR, after he was ordered to pay £6,500 for refusing to give information linked to an investigation into unusual scheme investments.

Share Story: