By Rebecca Camber

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Janet Whitehouse, 56, at her court appearance at Westminster Magistrates court earlier this month, today she was sentenced at crown court

Janet Whitehouse at her court appearance at Westminster Magistrates court earlier this month, today she was sentenced at crown court

She was once hailed as the saviour of the Royal Academy of Music after rescuing the prestigious college from financial ruin.

Janet Whitehouse, 56, was considered an employee of ‘impeccable good character’ after working as its finance director for almost 20 years.

But behind the respectable facade, she was siphoning off hundreds of thousands of pounds to boost her own pension pot.

The finance chief, who earned more than 100,000 a year, swindled the college out of 236,000 over a four-year period because she was jealous of the final salary pensions that other directors enjoyed.

Whitehouse owned a 1million property portfolio in London including a luxury penthouse overlooking the Thames. She also arranged for her son to live rent-free at a flat in Marylebone owned by the academy, saving him 33,600.

Yesterday the mother-of-two broke down in tears as she was jailed for 20 months for fraud.

Southwark Crown Court heard the high-flyer, who won a businesswoman of the year award in 1997, was appointed to the highest position of trust within the academy which trains soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians, conductors, opera singers and composers.

The accountant, who was initially employed part-time in 1992 before becoming finance director in 1998, saved the charity from ruin in the mid-1990s when its finances were in a perilous state.

But secretly she was envious of colleagues’ pensions and stole money to top up her own pension which was not in the final salary scheme, the court heard.

The Aurora Orchestra plays at the Royal Academy of Music: the charity school offers training for soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians, conductors, opera singers and composers

The Aurora Orchestra plays at the Royal Academy of Music: the charity school offers training for soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians, conductors, opera singers and composers

She paid three lump sums into her pension fund, falsely claiming the payments had been approved by college chairman Lord Terence Burns between March 2007 and January 2011. A further 104,000 was submitted in ‘wholly bogus’ invoices by Whiteley Associates, a company which she and her ex-husband were directors of, for work she claimed to have carried out.

Prosecutor Antony Swift said the fraud came to light in August 2010 following a second, unconnected fraud, which prompted the academy to carry out a full audit. Whitehouse then panicked and faked letters purporting to be from senior staff agreeing to the transactions and later tried to get a colleague to destroy the evidence.

Mr Swift said: ‘She had purported to be entitled to receive additional payments into her pension.’ When she was arrested last year, Whitehouse’s life ‘disintegrated’.

Earlier this month she pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud.

Neil Saunders, defending, said Whitehouse had taken the money because she was worried about financial security. He said: ‘The catalyst appears to have been that her father was taken seriously ill before passing away in 2007.

‘It appears that it is about this time she felt under huge pressure that she did not have a secure final salary pension unlike her colleagues.’ He quoted a statement by Whitehouse in which she admitted: ‘I was too embarrassed to ask so instead I took the money. It was really bad of me.’ Mr Saunders said she was of ‘impeccable good character’ and had rescued the 190-year-old academy.

The Royal Academy of Music counts Annie Lennox and Sir Elton John among its alumni

‘Her expertise and hard work put it back on its feet when it was at a stage where it could have essentially ended all its history and existence,’ he said. ‘This is not an excuse for what she later did and she apologised to everyone at the academy for letting them down and for how truly sorry she is.

‘She deeply regrets her actions and the position she has now found herself in. What she has done has brought her name, her family and the name of the academy into disrepute.’ Whitehouse sobbed and mouthed ‘I love you’ to her partner as she was jailed.

Judge Deborah Taylor said: ‘You were appointed in 1998 to a position of the highest trust as the director of finance and administration at the Royal Academy of Music and you abused that trust by committing serious offences over a period of three-and-a-half years to enrich yourself and benefit your family by three different means.

‘There is no doubt you have worked hard for the benefit of the academy and it is never pleasant to sentence someone of your obvious quality and ability who has suffered such a fall from grace. However, you used your skills to plan and cover up three serious wrongdoings.’

Yesterday a spokesman for the academy said Whitehouse had repaid 319,465 following her resignation in March last year.

Detective Inspector Andrew Fleming, of Westminster police, said: ‘Janet Whitehouse seemed to be a pillar of society.

‘However, perhaps the worst aspect in fraud cases such as this is the complete breach of trust by a longstanding member of staff.’

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I am a student at the academy and can say that it is truly the best place you can be. However, I will come out with over 40,000 of debt and the fact she can just take money that could be spent on scholarships or other things that can benefit the students, without anyone noticing is totally wrong and quite frankly disappointing

I'll feel much safer on the streets knowing this vicious thug is safely behind bars. We can't have people who beat you up as you make your way home with a pizza let off scott free can we. Err hang on a minute......

So, this woman's justification for such abhorent behaviour is her lack of a pension? The irony of this is: professional musicians have suffered an unprecedented fall in their living standards in the last few years as fees and opportunities have crashed through the floor and they are among the least likely to be able to afford to make any provision for their ill health, accident or retirement. Again and again we see the parasitic managerial and adminstrative class behaving in a greedy, self-serving fashion.

Another high flying common thief and the judge appears to be apologising for having to impose a custodial sentence!

20 Months.? let out after 6 for good behaviour? CRIME PAYS.

100,000 for 20 months in a holiday camp. I'll' do 20 months for 50,000. Is that net or taxed. Of course if I was a sadist I could kill a child and walk free. Still you need tough punishments like this otherwise thousands would do it........oh they are.

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