An ex-Asda boss has admitted to stealing thousands of pounds from the company’s charity funds when he was working at the supermarket, so that he could prop up his boyfriend’s struggling ballet company, and now faces jail time.
Paul Kelly, the retailer’s former vice-president of corporate affairs, pleaded guilty when he was brought before Leeds crown court on seven charges of fraud.
He claimed that the company run by his 36 year old dancer partner, David Murley, fell under the remit of the Asda Foundation.
The money, £180,000, was supposed to be donated to help flood victims.
Kelly left the superstore in 2014 following an internal investigation.
Four of the seven charges levelled against him were in regards to using his position as the chairman of the charitable association to make out that the Murley Dance Company was a charitable company that should receive funding from the Asda Foundation.
The other three charges were related to the fact that Kelly had been acting “dishonest and intending to make a gain for himself or another” through false representation.
The money was handed over between July 2013 and May 2014, it is reported.
Asda have said that none of the causes that is supports would be affected by the scandal.
Kelly is to be sentenced on 16 February, allowing time for a psychiatric and pre-sentence report to be made.
