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Shamed finance boss heads for jail
Three years for trusted official who raided bank accounts of the vulnerable
DISGRACED council finance chief John Baptiste takes his final steps before beginning a three-year jail sentence for looting hundreds of thousands of pounds from the bank accounts of Camden’s most vulnerable residents.
Friends and relatives, including his wife, broke down in tears as he was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday morning.
Baptiste, 57, spent his last moments before going to the cells giving hugs and shaking the hand of his local priest.
Camden Council, his former employer, said the sentence, of which he is likely to serve only half, did not reflect the severity of his crime.
Social services chief Conservative councillor Martin Davies said: “It’s a shame that the length of the prison sentence fails to reflect the impact that his actions have had on so many vulnerable people. We are now working with the police and other agencies to recover the stolen funds.”
In a position of absolute trust at the Town Hall, Baptiste plundered accounts he was supposed to be looking after on behalf of residents unable to conduct their own financial affairs.
He signed off a string of bogus cheques, stealing £620,000 in total over six years.
Judge Anna Guggenheim said Baptiste’s double life of good deeds for his local church contrasting with the nature of the theft was “an extraordinary puzzle”. She said she had no option but to send him to prison but gave him credit for his plea of guilty.
As revealed in a New Journal exclusive earlier this year, Baptiste used a large share of the stolen money to buy a second home in the Caribbean.
It is now understood that he had bought a plot of land in sun-drenched Grenada and begun building a family-sized house to his own specification from scratch.
But lawyer Noel Lucas told the court there was no other evidence of “high-living” and claimed that Baptiste, a qualified accountant, still had money worries.
He said: “The only expression that comes to mind is that this is a tragic case. He remains in debt. He owes money to credit card companies.”
Mr Lucas said he was at a loss to explain why Baptiste had begun the scam.
He added: “Elsewhere in his life, Mr Baptiste has proved himself to be a good and caring man. He has done substantial good deeds. It is for this that he is much loved and popular. You will have information that shows that Mr Baptiste does not enjoy good health. Prison will be hard for him to bear.”
Mr Lucas said that Baptiste regretted the pressure the case had put on his 17-year-old daughter during an exam period, adding: “He is deeply ashamed and deeply regrets what he has done.”
The courtroom was divided, with a seating area for Baptiste’s supporters who included the Reverend Michael Kingston from a church in his home neighbourhood of Sydenham, south London, and a separate gallery packed with friends of some of his victims and Fraud Squad detectives.
Baptiste, who was born in Aruba, an island in the Caribbean, waved at his relatives as he was led to the cells. He arrived at court in a suit and carrying a bulging rucksack.
Details of his “good deeds” were not read out in court and his referees, including Mr Kingston, declined to expand on them outside court.
The priest said: “We have been advised not to comment.”
His medical condition was also not explained in court, although special instructions were handed to custody guards.
Members of the public who fear that their friends and relatives were victims of the swindle shook their heads as Baptiste’s method of stealing was explained in court.
Several left the hearing adamant that his jail term was too light.
The court heard how Baptiste had fooled four friends into accepting bogus money transfers into their accounts. The money was then passed onto Baptiste, usually in cash withdrawals.
He told one friend that he needed somewhere to put extra earnings from private tax consultancy work, while another was told that he had been given a salary hike.
Judge Guggenheim said the attempt to cover his tracks by using close associates was “an aggravating feature”. She said: “It is an extraordinary puzzle that a man who has done so much good work could at the same time siphon about £100,000 a year from the accounts of the vulnerable.”
Baptiste was arrested at his council desk last February and questioned by detectives. He gave two interviews, firstly answering all questions with no comment and then denying that he had done anything wrong.
He later confessed to the swindle in January. Even though his legal team claimed that he had always intended to admit his guilt, Baptiste took Camden to an employment tribunal claiming that his suspension without pay was racially motivated. That appeal was thrown out just before Christmas.
Some of the people whose accounts were affected by the swindle are thought to have died without ever knowing that their savings had been tampered with.
Others are due to be repaid, although it is unclear whether the council will have to use an insurance policy to reclaim the money or Baptiste will be forced to cover the cost.
His land in Grenada is being investigated and is at the centre of confiscation proceedings due to run until June. |
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