A former Chelsea employee has been spared prison after a £200,000 scam

A former assistant treasurer manager at Chelsea Football Club has been spared jail after defrauding the club of more than £200,000 through false ticket refunds.

Claire Walsh, from Chelsea, admitted dishonestly abusing her position to obtain £208,521.65 between June 8, 2019 and October 23, 2023.

The 39-year-old was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months, at Isleworth Crown Court.

Prosecutor Alex Allaudi told the court that Walsh had been “making false refunds for tickets that were not released on the exchange website”.

Chelsea season ticket holders who cannot attend a home match can list their seats for sale on the club’s official stock exchange. Walsh’s role involved manually managing refunds.

“There were no tickets – she was simply refunding the money as if the ticket was on the paper,” Alaouda added.

An investigation revealed “an unusually large number of manual chargebacks on credit cards that were proven to be in the defendant’s name and belong to him.”

Sentencing Walsh, Judge Fiona Barry said: “This is clearly an abuse of trust.

“You held a responsible and trusted position in financial management and were trusted to handle large sums of money, and you used that position to defraud your employer.”

The judge said the crime was “motivated by the desire to help your family who were struggling” and noted that Walsh had no previous convictions.

Walsh, who joined Chelsea in 2007, told the club when faced with the issue of refunds that her mother had a terminal illness and that she had fallen into debt while trying to support her family. She resigned immediately.

She said she spent all the money, some on supporting her parents, and a lot on gifts, trips and holidays with family and friends.

Walsh was also ordered to complete up to 25 days of rehabilitation activities and 200 hours of unpaid community work.

Chelsea Football Club did not request any costs or compensation.