Ex Montessori boss accused of targeting charity in property scam
Catherine Gaunt
Friday, April 1, 2016
A former Montessori chief executive is facing court accused of taking part in a high-value conspiracy to defraud a school over the sale of one of its London buildings.
Philip Bujak, who was at the helm of the Montessori St Nicholas charity from 2003 until mid-2014, is jointly accused of the alleged property con with several business associates.
Bujak, 56, along with three other men and a woman married to one of the defendants, are variously charged with crimes including corporate credit card and invoice fraud, spanning at least seven years while he was chief executive of the charity.
Montessori passed information to the City of London Police in November 2014, which sparked the investigation and led to the arrest of Mr Bujak in January last year.
Mr Bujak, of Haywards Heath, East Sussex, is charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud. He is further charged with furnishing false information relating to accounts, and two counts of fraud by false representation.
Married couple Andrew Penny, 53, a supplier to Montessori, and Julie Penny, 51, from Newton Abbott, Deven, are each also charged with conspiracy to defraud.
Adrian Dugdale, 44, from Notting Hill, London and Karim Eigner, 48, from Barnes, South West London, are also each charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud and false representation.
Mr Bujak's arrest was followed by the arrests of Mr Dugdale on 19 August 2015, and Mr Eigner on 8 September 2015.
Julie Penny attended Exeter Police Station voluntarily for interview on 24 November 2015.
The five alleged co-conspirators will appear for the first time at City of London Magistrates' Court on 18 April.
A spokesperson for the charity said, ‘We can confirm that the Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute a former CEO of the charity, a former supplier and his spouse, as well as a former consultant to the charity and his business partner.
‘Whilst we cannot comment further as legal proceedings are ongoing, we wish to assure people that there are no charges against the charity itself. We shall continue to work closely with the police and have informed the Charity Commission.’
Mr Bujak was a leading figure of the Montessori movement in the UK. While CEO of Montessori St Nicholas, he was responsible for founding the Montessori Schools Association, which has around 700 Montessori school members across the country.
Montessori St Nicholas also runs Montessori Centre International, a Montessori teacher training college, which has its offices in Mayfair. Mr Bujak has also been managing director of MCI.
