Chelsea Staff Member Admits to £200,000 Fraud Against Club

A Chelsea Football Club employee has admitted to defrauding the organisation of more than £200,000 over a four-year period.

Claire Walsh, 39, pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to a charge of fraud by abuse of position. Prosecutors said Walsh, who served as an assistant treasury manager at the Premier League club, wrongfully obtained £208,520 between June 2019 and October 2023.

Magistrate Kieran O’Donnell told Walsh that the scale of the offence exceeded the sentencing powers of the magistrates’ court. “You’ve pleaded guilty to the offence and it exceeds our powers in terms of sentencing,” he said. “You’ll need to be sent to a crown court for sentencing, where they have the appropriate powers.”

Walsh, who lives in Elm Park Gardens in Chelsea, is expected to be sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court. A date has not yet been set.