Kids Company founder urges judge to spare her the 'stress' of a court case over the charity's financial meltdown after taking £42m of public money

The controversial founder of the defunct Kids Company charity yesterday begged to be spared the ‘stress’ of court proceedings.

Camila Batmanghelidjh asked a judge to help her avoid taking the blame for its financial meltdown.

Her solicitor told the High Court it would be a ‘blessing’ if she was let off, adding: ‘It would save time, cost and stress for her.’

At a preliminary court hearing yesterday, Batmanghelidjh argued she should escape blame because although she was ‘heavily involved’ in the charity, she was ‘not involved in the governance’.
Her solicitor, James Nicholls, complained that ‘stones are being thrown at her by the official receiver’, who has amassed 56 lever arch files of evidence, which he described as ‘a plethora of noise’.

Although Batmanghelidjh was not a director at the time the charity collapsed, she was described at a previous inquiry as the ‘unaccountable and dominant’ chief executive who regarded Kids Company as ‘her personal fiefdom’.
Kids Company received millions of pounds in taxpayer funding and was backed by high-profile celebrities.

Inquiries have previously found the charity gave brown envelopes stuffed with cash to troubled children as a matter of course.

Some £50,000 was allegedly spent on taxis at the charity’s Christmas party, and Batmanghelidjh had the use of a driver.

Twelve-year-old clients were given £150 trainers, while others were flown first class to America.
In 2015, one of the youngsters helped by the organisation told how she and her friends would splash the spending money they were given on cannabis.

She told Radio 4's The Report: 'We would queue up and sign our names down and get an envelope with £30 and an Oyster travelcard.

'Then we would go to the shop and buy whatever we wanted with that money. It was weed heaven on a Friday, you could smell it coming down from the landings.'

Other alleged instances of waste included someone's PhD studies being funded, and a stay at Champneys spa for a man with mental health problems who booked a chocolate massage treatment.

Batmanghelidjh denies all the allegations against her. The case continues.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7025093/Kids-Company-founder-urges-judge-spare-stress-court-case.html

£50K in taxi fares? Doesn't surprise me. I personally knew someone who set up a charity and did just that...creamed off expenses to fund her trips to Egypt. She got caught fiddling the books.

When you think how much was donated to Kids Company and how abused that charity was, it's pretty disgusting.

This twat needs prosecuting and prison for her fraud!!!

I remember writing a thread about her years ago.
She was bent through and through....how she managed to fool so many people for so long was a mystery.
Just shows how corrupt some of these so called do gooders really are.

I'm surprised that so much time has passed since she was found out, and she still hasn't faced prosecution...!

It's not what you know it's who you know.

It's interesting that, once more, a member of the rich and privileged thinks there is a special set of laws just for them.

I want to be the solicitor who has the balls to tell the court next time a common thief comes before it: "... it would be a ‘blessing’ if she was let off...‘It would save time, cost and stress for her'."

The labour govt diverted millions to her and her fake fraudulent "charity"...

Relieve her of stress and save her time. Okey dokey then. Stupid woman. Throw the book at her.

Cass wrote:Relieve her of stress and save her time. Okey donkey then. Stupid woman. Throw the book at her.

Yes... this woman is so far up herself it is beyond belief...!!!


She is a criminal... pure and simple...!!!


Throw the book at her... long jail term... plus seize her assets to repay the taxpayer!!!

Your not expecting a realistic sentence from our Judges are you?

Ah I remember this woman in the news few years ago.
My opinion is going to be different to everyone else's, here!  



Yes, she has been recklessly wasteful with public money. Extremely profligate in her spending and totally incompetent. Correct!  

Well, so have several bank managers, pension fund CEO's and top financiers, who wasted far more public money than this woman ever did, and yet they were never punished. Instead they were bailed out  - with MORE public money -  and some were even promoted afterwards.

If the "men in suits" get off scott free, why shouldn't a fat woman in colourful clothes not be pardoned either?
If the guy sitting beside her had wasted twice that amount managing a bank, or a country    - he'd have been let off the hook.

Jules wrote:Ah I remember this woman in the news few years ago.
My opinion is going to be different to everyone else's, here!  



Yes, she has been recklessly wasteful with public money. Extremely profligate in her spending and totally incompetent. Correct!  

Well, so have several bank managers, pension fund CEO's and top financiers, who wasted far more public money than this woman ever did, and yet they were never punished. Instead they were bailed out  - with MORE public money -  and some were even promoted afterwards.

If the "men in suits" get off scott free, why shouldn't a fat woman in colourful clothes not be pardoned either?
If the guy sitting beside her had wasted twice that amount managing a bank, or a country    - he'd have been let off the hook.

Because a multitude of wrongs don't make a right? Just because others have gotten away with it, doesn't mean that should be perpetuated. Anyone who commits fraud with a charity is the worst kind of hustler.

Imo the only justification for jailing her, would be if it can be demonstrated that she spent any of the money on HERSELF.

Did she buy mansions, a fleet of sportscars, designer wardrobes, jewellery,  drugs?  Did she have luxury holidays abroad, or indulge in gambling?  


If it can be proven that she spent inordinate amounts on herself, then yes punish her.
But if she was merely incompetent and wasteful, then just ban her from any future charity work.

Politicians & bankers who frittered away Billions of public moneythru errors & mismangement are still in their jobs.

Why did it take 20 years to notice her incompetence?? The charity watchdog supervising her was surely incompetent too.

And btw she had as many dealings with Cameron as with Blair. The tories were in power when she created the company, and when she finally left it.

So let's not make this a political issue.