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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| CAB couple 'stole up to £650,000' | CAB couple 'stole up to £650,000' |
| (29 minutes later) | |
| A couple funded a luxury lifestyle of top hotels and champagne by siphoning off up to £650,000 from a Citizens' Advice Bureau, a jury has been told. | A couple funded a luxury lifestyle of top hotels and champagne by siphoning off up to £650,000 from a Citizens' Advice Bureau, a jury has been told. |
| Dale and Sally Foster, 64 and 49, from Swansea, jointly ran the charity's office in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. | |
| The couple both deny 11 counts of theft and five accounts of false accounting at Swansea Crown Court. | The couple both deny 11 counts of theft and five accounts of false accounting at Swansea Crown Court. |
| The trial heard that they spent £56,000 in three months on hotels, luxury travel and fine wine and champagne. | |
| The couple were accused of paying for their lifestyle by "systematically plundering" the bureau's bank accounts. | The couple were accused of paying for their lifestyle by "systematically plundering" the bureau's bank accounts. |
| Geraint Walters, prosecuting, detailed to jurors a series of the couple's big-ticket buys during several trips to London to kit themselves out for a luxury skiing trip. | Geraint Walters, prosecuting, detailed to jurors a series of the couple's big-ticket buys during several trips to London to kit themselves out for a luxury skiing trip. |
| Just imagine spending £40,000 by using your credit card during a period of 12 weeks when your only source of income is your legitimate employment at the CAB Geraint Walters, prosecuting | Just imagine spending £40,000 by using your credit card during a period of 12 weeks when your only source of income is your legitimate employment at the CAB Geraint Walters, prosecuting |
| The period from mid October 2003 to mid January 2004 included a stay at the Ritz and several stopovers at the Hotel Carnaby Tower. | The period from mid October 2003 to mid January 2004 included a stay at the Ritz and several stopovers at the Hotel Carnaby Tower. |
| The skiing holiday for two to Canada's luxury Whistler resort eventually cost £17,000, the court heard. | The skiing holiday for two to Canada's luxury Whistler resort eventually cost £17,000, the court heard. |
| The Fosters shopped at designer sport outlets, Harrods and Harvey Nichols as they prepared for the lavish break, Mr Walters said. | The Fosters shopped at designer sport outlets, Harrods and Harvey Nichols as they prepared for the lavish break, Mr Walters said. |
| Over the three months, more than £2,000 went on champagne and fine wine, more than £8,000 on designer furniture and £1,300 on designer vinyl wallpaper for their home. | Over the three months, more than £2,000 went on champagne and fine wine, more than £8,000 on designer furniture and £1,300 on designer vinyl wallpaper for their home. |
| At the time, the couple were among the few salaried staff at the CAB branch which was largely run by volunteers. | At the time, the couple were among the few salaried staff at the CAB branch which was largely run by volunteers. |
| Police traced credit card transactions from the couple's accounts totalling £40,000 alone, without the skiing holiday, over the three-month period. | Police traced credit card transactions from the couple's accounts totalling £40,000 alone, without the skiing holiday, over the three-month period. |
| Personal use | Personal use |
| Mr Walters said: "Just imagine spending £40,000 by using your credit card during a period of 12 weeks when your only source of income is your legitimate employment at the CAB. | Mr Walters said: "Just imagine spending £40,000 by using your credit card during a period of 12 weeks when your only source of income is your legitimate employment at the CAB. |
| "We say that that kind of snapshot of expenditure shows that these defendants clearly knew that the lifestyle was being funded by dishonesty." | "We say that that kind of snapshot of expenditure shows that these defendants clearly knew that the lifestyle was being funded by dishonesty." |
| It is alleged that the pair, from Swansea, set up a bogus company and bank accounts to cover their tracks. | It is alleged that the pair, from Swansea, set up a bogus company and bank accounts to cover their tracks. |
| The jury heard the couple set up a series of secret accounts and used them to transfer hundreds of thousands of pounds for their own personal use. | The jury heard the couple set up a series of secret accounts and used them to transfer hundreds of thousands of pounds for their own personal use. |
| Mr Walters said the Ammanford office had clinched a contract to run a Wales-wide CAB advice call centre from 2002 onwards. | Mr Walters said the Ammanford office had clinched a contract to run a Wales-wide CAB advice call centre from 2002 onwards. |
| He said it meant the bureau, in a former terraced house, was "awash with cash". | He said it meant the bureau, in a former terraced house, was "awash with cash". |
| Over four years from 2002 the contract brought in £1.2m without counting substantial Welsh Assembly Government, county and community council grants. | |
| He said the bureau was staffed by volunteers, with the couple among the few regular salaried staff working there and Mrs Foster the manager. | He said the bureau was staffed by volunteers, with the couple among the few regular salaried staff working there and Mrs Foster the manager. |
| Mr Foster began working there in 1997 and was contracted to do 30 hours a week for £9,000 a year. | Mr Foster began working there in 1997 and was contracted to do 30 hours a week for £9,000 a year. |
| Their alleged scam only came to light when both quit work overnight at Easter 2006, posting the office keys through the letterbox of a local solicitor who was a volunteer and acting bureau chairman. | Their alleged scam only came to light when both quit work overnight at Easter 2006, posting the office keys through the letterbox of a local solicitor who was a volunteer and acting bureau chairman. |
| The trial, which is expected to last six weeks, is continuing. | The trial, which is expected to last six weeks, is continuing. |