Inside Croydon

Ruth Dombey, the leader of Sutton Council, is facing further questions over how much she knew, and when, about the fraud case involving a charity serving local old people which led to the resignation of one of her fellow Liberal Democrat councillors.

Ruth Dombey: her mother is a trustee on another Sutton charity alongside fraudster Alan Salter

Alan Salter last month pleaded guilty at Croydon Magistrate’s Court to defrauding £8,225 from the Carshalton Association for the Elderly by using forged cheques. The 66-year-old from Wallington is awaiting sentencing.

Sutton’s LibDems have throughout the proceedings maintained that Salter’s illegal activities were nothing to do with the council or their party. But it has now emerged that among the biggest donors to the charity being defrauded was Sutton Council itself. And it has also been shown that Salter was on the board of another Sutton charity for the elderly where the council leader’s own mother, Brenda Dombey, is a trustee.

In fact, Salter, a retired accountant, was the treasurer of both Carshalton Association for the Elderly and of Sutton Seniors’ Forum. Salter was removed as treasurer of the Seniors’ Forum only in February this year. He was replaced in that role by Brenda Dombey.

Salter resigned as a councillor for Carshalton Central in June, requiring a by-election to be held. Salter’s resignation from the council came in the same week that Ruth Dombey was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours – her old mum must have been so proud – but Dombey’s LibDems and Sutton council officials failed to advise opposition councillors or the public of  Salter’s position for several days. A case of “Mum’s the word”.

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