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RAF’s TOP Man in Pentagon Hid £20K Housing Fraud From MoD and Wife, Court Hears

Wing Cdr Alex Drysdale accused of squirrelling away cash in secret bank account after being seconded to key US role

The Guardian 29 FEB 2024

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Wing Cdr Alex Drysdale is accused of squirrelling away the cash in a secret bank account when he was seconded to a role at the Department of Defense in Washington.

After taking up a senior post with Air Force warfighting integration capability (AFWIC), Mr Drysdale, a military strategy specialist, allegedly arranged for an overseas rent allowance (ORA) of £2,408 a month to be paid into a new bank account that only he knew about.

A military court sitting in Catterick, North Yorkshire, heard how Wing Cdr Drysdale had told his wife, who was studying to become a nurse, that they would no longer be receiving the ORA into their joint account.

But it is alleged that, unbeknown to her, he continued to claim the cash and had it paid into his own account.

Wing Cdr Drysdale, who began his RAF career as a search-and-rescue pilot in Moray, Scotland, in 2006, denies defrauding the Ministry of Defence of £19,502 in ORA, claiming his failure to tell them of a change in circumstances was “an oversight”.

But the court was told he submitted a false document in support of his claim, which amounted to “a lie intended to conceal a deliberate fraud”.

‘Use funds for himself’

Cdre James Farrant, prosecuting, told the court: “He opened a new bank account to conceal these matters from his wife.

“He transferred the allowance payments from their joint account to a bank account that was his and his alone.

“He told his wife that he expected the allowance to cease and he knew that she was under that impression. She did not know he was still claiming it. He did this because he intended to keep and use the funds for himself.”

The hearing was told that British service personnel working overseas are entitled to ORA if they rent property during their posting, however, if they buy their home the allowance will stop.

Mr Drysdale and his family had been in the United States since 2011, with him working mostly in the Nevada area.

The family rented a property in Las Vegas, paying the rent but claiming it back from British Defence Services, who also paid them a fuel and lighting allowance.

However, in 2021, Wing Cdr Drysdale and his wife decided to buy their home but he did not declare the sale and secretly continued to claim back the rent money.

Cdre Farrant said the fraudulent behaviour began soon after Mr Drysdale was promoted from squadron leader to wing commander in March 2021.

It meant he was told he would be leaving his role at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada for a new post with AFWIC based 2,400 miles away at The Pentagon.

‘Secretly continued to claim’

Wing Cdr Drysdale decided to leave his family behind in Las Vegas because his wife had started a nursing degree, choosing to rent a property in Washington, DC and return home to Las Vegas whenever work allowed.

Around the same time, following the promotion, he decided to buy their home in Las Vegas, with the sale going through in February 2022.

He explained to his wife that as a result they would no longer be receiving ORA, but secretly continued to claim it, the court heard.

Cdre Farrant said: “The prosecution case is that Wing Cdr Drysdale deliberately and dishonestly concealed the fact he purchased his home from British Defence Services in order to continue claiming the allowance.”

The court heard when the fraud was discovered, Wing Cdr Drysdale broke down in tears and claimed he did not know what he had done wrong and repaid the money.

Wing Cdr Drysdale denies fraud by false representation and the trial, expected to last a week, continues.