Afternoon:
21°c
The financial director of the publicly-funded London Philharmonic Orchestra faces claims that he took £560,000 to fund an extravagant lifestyle.
Cameron Poole, 35, is believed to have siphoned off the cash over four years to pay for holidays, clothing, antiques and upgrades to his family's £900,000 four-bedroom home in south London.
But he was thrown out of the property by his Tory councillor wife Suzanne — who is bidding to become a parliamentary candidate — when he was served with a court summons.
He quit the orchestra in August and his former bosses — who receive in excess of £2 million a year from the Arts Council England — have launched a High Court action to recover the cash.
A criminal investigation by City of London Police is expected to follow.
The missing cash came to light when the orchestra, which recently returned to its home at the refurbished Southbank Centre, carried out an external audit. Poole, an Australian who earned £80,000 a year, was initially believed to be responsible for taking about £260,000. But further checks revealed that £560,000 had disappeared.
He is understood to be working for the UK Design Council. His wife, 32, a music teacher and Lambeth councillor with whom he has three young children, ordered him from the family home in Herne Hill and he is reportedly staying in a hotel with his father.
She only discovered the extent of his spending when she went back through credit card statements, finding he had paid £4,000 for candlesticks that she thought were worthless.
Friends say she is devastated and plans to be represented at the court hearings to defend herself from having joint possessions seized, as there is the fear that the family home could be taken to pay the debts. She is a committed Christian and directs the music at Christ Church, Gipsy Hill, where her estranged husband was the treasurer.
Poole, an expert on charity finances, graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1993. A case, in which the orchestra is seeking to reclaim the cash, is listed before Mrs Justice Dobbs at the High Court this afternoon but sources indicated it may not go ahead today.
Mrs Poole is on the list of approved Conservative candidates seeking a parliamentary seat but she fears that the case may wreck her chances.
One source told the Daily Mail: “This has come as a real shock for Suzanne. She now faces losing her home and her political career. Suzanne has kicked him out of the house and wants nothing to do with him now.”
The orchestra's chief executive, Timothy Walker, could not be reached for comment. An orchestra spokesman said: “It is a big shock and we are looking into the whole issue of how this could have happened.”
Founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, the London Philharmonic has made numerous acclaimed recordings, including the film soundtracks for Star Wars, Lawrence Of Arabia and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Its principal conductors have included Bernard Haitink and Sir Georg Solti, while soloists have included Yehudi Menuhin. Daniel Barenboim and Jacqueline du Pré.
Reader views (1)
For the record, it was the LSO not the LPO who recorded all the Star Wars soundtracks
- Nina Swann, London, 24/11/2009 13:20
Report abuse
