Veteran Conman Week In Week Out

This is Chris O'Neill. Earlier this month he pleaded guilty to two

counts of fraud. He had promised to help a veterans of Wales. He was a

charm. I deplore him for what he did. He got his hands on tens of

thousands of pounds of public money, but within months, you do you most

about. Lots of money was spent in Ladbrokes. An uncertain future for

the people he was going to health. I came home a broken man. We ask

how he got his hands on so much public money? I have to question if

the procedures were in place and if they were managed? We speak to the

council that allowed it to happen. We would like to speak to you about

These men are veterans who survived years of conflict. It has left its

mark. It was top. Anyone who says it is not to of is lying. No matter

what you say, those days are really difficult. We worked on the borders,

we worked in Londonderry. We saw quite a few sites that people do

not want to see. Like thousands of veterans, their battles did not end

when their service careers finished. They struggled with life on civvy

street. It is the only Winnie become unemployed edge you have

time to dwell, but the ramifications job up and bite you.

Along came hope in the shape of Chris O'Neill, offering a home,

Haven and Anglesey. He said he knew how it was to be damaged by

conflict and set up Forces for Good, a social enterprise offering hope

for the veterans. One person who trusted O'Neill was Kevin Gray, a

former soldier. He had post- traumatic stress disorder in 2009.

He said he was a Royal Military policeman, cert 15 years, served

with 14 Intelligence that used to be in Northern Ireland. Everything

he said was very plausible. Just the fact he was a military

policeman, I trusted him. I thought he had only good intentions.

Telling tales of his own military career, he convinced the veterans

that he was really a force for good. One of the many convinced was a

Billy. What they were doing was brilliant. They gave soldiers a

chance to get back to life. Billy has been affected by his

experiences in Northern Ireland. was ambushed. I was hit here. Eyes

of the bullet mark behind by a year when I got back to the camp. That

may be nervous. O'Neill started to develop the Forces for Good brand,

reiterating that this was a cause for a veterans would help veterans.

We worked together. There are no managers, he was a sergeant, he was

a sergeant major, he was a private soldier, there was none of that. It

was a team of lads. We all spoke and work together. We do things

together. How did Chris O'Neill's plans failed so spectacularly? How

did he end up convicted for fraud? We found another side to Chris

O'Neill, a dark side, as I'd very much at odds with these boot

talking campaigner. Chris O'Neill wedded to the Army as a young

recruit in the 80s and served for five years. It is a good career

path and a good experience. But you going with the rise open. This was

him appearing on television spinning is the Oram about military

past. -- spinning a yarn about military past. Nothing can prepare

you for a military life. He was happy to talk about mental scars

and about our veterans need help from organisations like this.

call it the Queen of the resorts and it was through that O'Neill set

up a hotel for veterans, Forces for Good was registered as a company.

He had a business plan drawn up. The white government and Conwy

Council were told that a member of the Royal Family was lined up as a

patron. Forces for Good already existed as a completely separate

organisations in England and three years ago, he hopes to emulate

their success in North Wales. Can you tell us a little bit about

Forces for Good and the working due in North Wales. Here he is at the

health and well-being campaign. It was all spoof talk. It lies in the

principle that a veteran will talk to a veteran, because I have been

very you have been. Is there a model in North Wales that could be

folded out across the rest of Wales? It is like everything else,

it all comes down to finance and taking things forward. Tell us what

you need and we make recommendations to the Government

and they make the priorities. again standing next to Simon Weston

at the Welsh Parliaments. There were five or six organisations at

the time. He was listening to the rest of us speaking County picked

up on that and embellished it. He was a confidence trickster. These

people exist. Borneo began a publicity drive and started to

lobby politicians. -- O'Neill began. He would speak to his social

services, he would speak to his contacts in the Probation Service,

the police service, he could talk the present round of the trees, to

be honest. Elfyn Llwyd is a prominent campaigner for veterans

and so knew that he would be useful and campaigned the MP that he could

change lives. Well-intentioned, knowledgeable, he spoke about his

time in the services. I had problems myself when I came had

come alive problems, a readjustment problems. He was suffering from

alcoholism, and the way in which she had to pull himself together

and get back into mainstream life. I can empathise with a lot of these

men. I respected him even more for the fact he would share his

experience with others and do something to prevent others sliding

into the dark as he was in. wasn't just politicians that he

rubs shoulders with in his mission to further the endgame. He was in

several meetings with some high- powered, ex-service people, people

from the probation service, the whole group are people that we deal

with in our committees in London. I do not think anybody suspected

anything. Chris O'Neill, you are part of a big campaign? Yes, to

raise awareness for veterans. he appeared on television speaking

about veterans, I almost fell off the chair. I rang his ex-wife to

say, Look who is on television axe back she would not believe it.

Unfortunately, have to see it is true. Phil Rowe from Barmouth has

known O'Neill for 12 years and saw a different side. What did you

think you were watching? Apart from a total shock, what was he doing

there?! He had gone from a bar manager in Barmouth to being on TV

sitting with an MP, setting up this charity acts back I was absolutely

amazed. O'Neill has been married to fill's cousin and Phil had given

him a job. He had many facets, what you see is not what you get. He is

convincing, smart, hopeful, well- mannered. But there was something

going on in the background. According to Phil Roe, O'Neill had

a chaotic lifestyle that left a trail of debt. He ran a security

firm and the guys from the security firm, he ended up knocking on my

cousin's door looking for money because he had not paid the wages.

He ran a burglar alarm company adds that went the same way. All in all,

he was full of enthusiasm, everything would be fine and right,

but it's deteriorated into nothing with many being owed. Did he ever

make his excess of anything in the But the man with the modest past

came up with a grand plan in Llandudno. It was here on this

quiet side-street close to the seafront that his gamble very

nearly paid off. Two years ago, this was the Jenivore Hotel. It was

here that he had a vision for creating jobs, opportunities and

fresh hope for Army veterans batterer finding it difficult to

cope on civvy street. Are to be a business plan, he comes insists the

white government to hand over �125,000 to help set up the hotel

project. -- he got the world's governments to handover. But money

was to be administered with Conwy Council, but should setting up a

business proposal, with Jacques? There were lots of things with this

happening, so we should cross our fingers. Simon Denny is an expert

on social enterprises and we showed in the business proposal. What kind

of check-ups should take place? They should look at the

organisation, the financial standing, they should expect that

there are certain that bits of work done, it's check the premises, and

also check the business record of the people running it. But they are

capable of handling money? Capable, honest, and that it is a business,

had a business people? Gris O'Neill won an award for voluntary work and

his application contained the support of the local community

safety partnership which was chaired by a Chief Superintendent

of North Wales Police. The partnership is made up of a variety

of agencies including the police, the local authority, the fire

service and the probation service. Harry Fletcher from the National

Association of Probation officers met O'Neill several times when he

visited London looking for support. Between 2008 and 2011, I had to be

no doubts at all and I believed that he sincerely wanted to assist

and was actively trying to get together the funding. Why were

professional people taking in by a conman with a colourful past?

surprised that so many of us, the Government, the council, veterans,

were all fooled into believing that he was a sincere man looking to

help soldiers with the mental health issues, all of those

including the, we were conned for several years. How did he manage to

get so much support from the council, the Government, the police

and the probation service? At the time I first met him in 2008, the

problems that soldiers based in the justice system with mental health

and homeless as, this was just emerging as a problem. There was a

lot of press attention, money floating around, and I think all of

the agencies were very, very eager to assist. But O'Neill was a

convicted thief, admitting as much on film. We have this footage from

several years ago where he blames alcohol for his downfall. That such

a grip on me, that I would do So, what about the checks and

balances that Stewart had been in place? It surprises me looking back,

Where there are large pots of money available and mental health is such

a difficult world to go into, only the professional should be able to

go in. By his own admission, O'Neill is a man with an addictive

personality, drawn to drink and gambling. This caused misery for

his former life's family -- his former wife's family. He drove his

ex-wife, his mother-in-law and father-in-law to misery. They never

knew who was gained been knocking on the door. How surprised are you

that Chris O'Neill has found himself and his predicament? I am

now -- I'm more surprise with him getting him into this position

would be Assembly. If you look at the video, you will notice that

every time he has to think of anything in conversation, his eyes

a rise to the top of his head. He has to think about what he is

saying all the time. It is not natural. If somebody had come to

you and said they were thinking of giving him a grant of �125,000,

what would you have done? I would have laughed! With the Jenivore

Hotel set up, O'Neill promised to employ it veterans are recovering

from drink and drug problems. He also persuaded a woman to give him

�30,000 from a divorce settlement. He promised her a job. For a while,

the project work. But he was greedy. Once he had a guarantee that the

money was definitely coming from the government, he did not waste

any time spending it. There were the two special Japanese people

carriers with personalised Forces for Good number plates. And then,

what every veterans organisation knees, a speedboat. I went to pick

it up with him, but thought was a rowboat. But he was a great big

speedboat! I was starting to think that this guy was a secret

millionaire because of the way he was splashing the cash around.

O'Neill was the sole director of Forces for Good and held the purse

strings. Professor Denny believes they should have been more than one

director in charge. If he was saying he was expecting to have a

turnover of six figures, you would have expected two or three people

involved. There would be a strong case as to why only one person was

needed. That implies they have all the business skills and a suitable

track record. In this instance, we had a person who had alcohol

problems, who had left the forces, we didn't have a job, he was living

on benefits, and to had no track record in running any kind of

business or any kind of charity or going concern. So, all in all, this

candidate was a very poor candidate for public funding, it seems to me.

So, even if a most cursory check had been undertaken, it is

undertake -- it is astonishing that any money was given. Within a few

days of Conwy Council paying out a grant to Forces for Good, Chris

O'Neill transferred a substantial amount of it, nearly �70,000, into

his personal account. He couldn't resist the temptation. He went on a

gambling spree and ran up huge hotel bills, using money that was

supposed to be helping war veterans. O'Neill lived a life. He was good

at it. He told everyone he had been a military policeman for many years.

That is a live. O'Neill only served a two brief periods in the army. We

have been told he never saw active service. He joined after school,

and was in the youth, not the cadets. In the induction period. He

stayed for some time. He left because he said was becoming boring.

He went again and immediately that Northern island was mentioned, he

came straight back out again. from the media spotlight, we

discovered that O'Neill was living in chaos. He rented this bungalow

on Anglesey and told the landlord he was homeless. He was a charmer.

A smooth talker. He could talk himself into the palace. But when

the rent was due, O'Neill was not quite so keen to communicate.

time I tried to get hold of him, he said he was in London, giving

seminars about PTSD, combat stress, drugs and Argos. -- drugs and

alcohol. Coming to the back bedroom, I don't know what's been going on

here, but you can see a lot of personal paperwork and details. We

have found it a lot of heavy gambling stuff that has been going

on here. By the sum of 2011, O'Neill's lies started to catch up

with him. Two directors joined the board of Forces for Good, one of

whom or was it psychotherapist Mandy Bostwick. Chris O'Neill

invited me to become a director. went along to an office in clan did

know and has signed a paper agreeing to be off -- agreeing to

the directors. They soon. They soon became suspicious. He refused to

show than the accounts and they went to the bank manager. He asked

if they knew how much they should be in the account. We said, they

should be between 85,090 1,000. We saw the bank manager's pupils

pinpoint. I said, judging by their reaction, there isn't much in there,

or is there? He said, I can't disclose it. He said its under �500.

I remember very clearly Mr Grace sitting to my right and the colour

drain from him completely. -- Mr Gray. I felt completely sick and

wondered how on earth this had managed it to happen. I said, we

have to inform the police straight away because we will need some

support from everywhere. It is 16 months since they blew the whistle

and Chris O'Neill's House of Cards has come crashing down. In court,

he pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud. He will be sentenced but he

has been warned that his future is likely to be behind bars. But what

about the damage done to the veterans left behind? It was a

disaster. It was, like, I have come here, through my own personal

circumstances. Rebuilding my life, and now, I am further down the line

them what I was when I first came here. I feel suicidal. You have

just had your whole world taken away from you. Because of one man.

He is somebody that I deplore for what he did. It is a very tragic

lesson. I can't do anything about photographs taken with me, but I

can do something about speaking out on behalf of people who need to be

supported, not victimised. could the events around -- around

the collapse of Forces for Good have a greater impact? There always

be conmen taking advantage of a strong situation, as veterans are

in this case. But people should not stop giving to veteranss --

veterans' organisations. The British Legion, organisations like

that are strong organisations which have been doing brilliantly for so

long. So, how has the situation allowed to get this far? That is

the question being asked by one MP who was demanding an inquiry.

has been a failure of regulatory control. It may be partly the world

government and partly Conwy Council, but somewhere, it has to be found

out and properly dealt with because checks and balances are vital when

public funds are being given out. It was Conwy Borough Council's job

to administer the �125,000 grant. We asked the Welsh Assembly

government to ask -- what had been done to check Chris O'Neill's

background before the money was paid out. They declined a request

for an interview but they said that, the borough council have paid the

money back to them in full. The Welsh government said that they

worked with the councils to strengthen Conwy's governors

procedures. Even so, there are questions about the way, we dealt

with the whole affair. Serious decisions need to be made about

people working in public office who have the responsibility of our

money, regarding what they are doing with it, and what checks are

being placed on it. And if there are no checks being placed on it

and this kind of thing happens, then people who hold responsible

positions start -- need to be brought to account. There are a

whole host of warning bells going off. Proper systems and procedures

can manage those. I have to question whether the systems and

procedures were in place and whether they were managed. Was it

naive? It is possible that somebody was naive. He in other words,

before but this individual was such a good chap, they could afford to

give them a cheque for �125,000 and that will be all right? Put it this

way, somebody came to me and said a few people think I'm a good bloke,

can I have �125,000, I wouldn't give it to him. Among the questions

we would have liked to have put to the council is why they pay the

grant to Forces for Good in a lump sum? Why did they not -- why do

they allow Chris O'Neill to have the money solely. They have refused

our request for an interview but there are important questions we

needed to put to the chief executive, Iwan Davies.

We would like to talk to you about Forces for Good. The council will

be putting assets -- the council will be looking at its own internal

report soon. We have made several request to talk to the councils

which have been denied. The council, as you know, has been accused of

not a ministering funds properly. First thing on a Monday morning!

There are important questions. are not hiding anything. We are

doing things properly, there will be a public meeting where you can

watch. Why have you been so reluctant to say anything up to

this point? Because we have been waiting for the trial to conclude.

You know that Chris O'Neill has been -- has pleaded guilty. He has

not been sentenced. That is imminent. He has accepted his role.

I think this is very much in the public interest, you would accept

that? Yes, that is why we will have a meeting in public to discuss the

Council's position. Why are you so reluctant to do an interview?

don't trust people like you. This is poor behaviour. It is because

the council has refused to face up to the accusations against it. So,

it will need -- it will be the people of Conwy and this area who

will have to pick up the bill for Chris O'Neill's crimes, not to

mention the cost of the court case an investigation by the police and

council. A burden that will have to be shouldered by all Welsh -- all

Welsh taxpayers. The money has gone and the veterans have been left

with an uncertain future. That was the big one. I felt we were making

a difference. We were about time. To have it ripped away, not just

from me, but from all those guys who we were promising to help, it

is probably one of the hardest things to do. I came home, I was a

broken man. Somebody has got to take the responsibility, so it is

surely the people in power and gave him the money. You invest that