A council boss who stole from the Grenfell Tower fire disaster fund is also at the centre of a £35,000 fraud investigation by Medway NHS Trust.

Jenny McDonagh,worked for the health body, based at Medway Maritime Hospital, between 2015 and 2016.

Ben McArdle, a spokesman for the trust said: "This is an active case which has been passed on to the Crown Prosecution Service. Therefore we are unable to comment further.”

Fund manager McDonagh, 39, stole £62,000 of cash handouts allocated to survivors of the inferno at the high rise block of flats in south west London.

She blew the money on luxury holidays to Dubai and Los Angeles, fine dining and online gambling.

She stole pre-paid cash cards while a manager of the Grenfell fire fund at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

McDonagh even continued to use the stolen cards without bank accounts, after police quizzed her under investigation in August 2018.

At Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday she admitted two counts of fraud by abuse of position, one of theft by employee and one money laundering offence.

The court also heard McDonagh, of Abbey Wood, south east London, is under investigation for two suspected frauds in her previous jobs, one at the NHS and another at the V&A gallery in London.

Prosecutor Robert Simpson said she was caught out after she made bookings, including for hair appointments and meals in posh restaurants, in her own name.

Mr Simpson said: “It was unsophisticated.

"Even though she was using fraud funds she was booking restaurants and hair appointments and so-on in her own name, thus the guilty pleas.

“The whole trail leads towards her.”

Survivors of the fire could opt for cash payments into their bank accounts or pre-paid cash cards which could be used to spend the money. Referring to the online gambling, Mr Simpson, he added: “She spent £32,000 of which she had £16,000 winnings.

“She roughly lost about £16,000 in funds in online gambling.”

McDonagh was arrested in August and quizzed about the crimes – then continued to use the cash cards after her release.

The prosecutor said McDonagh had previously worked for Medway NHS Trust, which is also investigating her for fraud.

He said: “She worked for Medway NHS Trust in 2015 and 2016.

“They have been investigating her time working in that NHS Trust and there is a current fraud investigation launched in 2017 and ongoing by the NHS fraud investigators.

“It’s suggested that she obtained about £35,000 by means of fraud when she was working for the NHS Trust.”

After leaving her job with the NHS, McDonagh then worked briefly for the V&A gallery in London, where she is also suspected of committing fraud.

Mr Simpson said: “She was then working for the V&A museum in the interim period between NHS and having this job being in charge of managing people from the Grenfell fire fund.

The court heard police also sought charges linked to the suspected V&A fraud.

But Mr Simpson said: “The person who was dealing with that over the telephone said that was a more complicated fraud, there was quite a lot of material.

“The NHS one is in the same position.”

A bail hearing was expected this afternoon.