Gang dressed as Pudsey Bear to steal £500,000 in charity donations jailed
A gang of charity fraudsters who pocketed at least £500,000 from supermarket bucket collections across the UK have been jailed.
Lead scammer David Levi, 47, and his bogus collectors used Children In Need, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, The Children's Society, The Christie Charitable Fund and Mind as fronts for their crime wave. Levi contacted charities asking for permission to collect for them and to use their logo materials.
Stalls and tables would be set up in supermarkets but the fraudsters would also use their own fake ID badges, banners and even a Pudsey Bear costume. Less than 10% of the £500,000 traced through the gang's bank accounts was paid to the charities, Preston Crown Court was told.
David Levi has been jailed (Copyright remains with handout provider)Judge Andrew Jefferies KC said he could only guess the actual amount pocketed by the gang and that some deposits of cash with the charities took place when police started to make inquiries. Sentencing Levi and his co-defendants, the judge said: "This was a massive breach of trust. You all exploited the public goodwill and, in some case, private grief.
"It was a duel deceit to the public detriment and in undermining public confidence. The British public is always relied upon to give generously to charitable causes and they do so even when they may not have much themselves."
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He said that one charity said in its victim personal statement that trust in monies given to charities had been "tainted" and another said the lack of trust meant "seriously young children and their families are negatively impacted". Many of the shops used by Levi and his gang were persuaded to allow the collections under false pretences, the court was told.
The fraudsters would claim they had permission from head office or a manager. They would sometimes threaten to report an employee or go the national press if permission was not granted. Lancashire Police opened an investigation in May 2017 after a referral to Action Fraud by Children In Need.
In June, officers raided Levi's home address and businesses premises in Lytham, Lancashire, and recovered multiple phones, tablets and charity items. Detectives then built the case using financial, telephone and cell-site evidence as well as surveillance of some of the collections themselves.
On Thursday, Levi, of Fairhaven Road, was jailed for five years after admitting fraud and money laundering. He will also be subject to a five-year serious crime prevention order following his release on licence. William Ormand, 64, of London Road, Blackpool, a collector who at times played a leading role, was jailed for three years and four months after being convicted of fraud and money laundering.
Roy Ferguson, 63, of Park Road, Blackpool, largely a collector, was imprisoned for two years and five months for fraud and money laundering. Howard Collins, 73, of Laburnum Street, Blackpool, who collected and also organised collectors, received a 28-month jail term for fraud and money laundering.
Fellow bogus collectors Martin Ebanks, 60, of Oakley Drive, Oldham, and Stephen Chesterman, 63, of Eversley Road, Benfleet, both admitted fraud and were jailed for 18 months and 22 months respectively. Kaysha Beck, 31, of St David's Road South, Lytham, who provided office support for the fraudsters, was jailed for 18 months after she too admitted fraud and money laundering.
Following sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Riley said: "When people donate to a charity they rightly expect that their money will go to supporting good causes and not to lining the pockets of greedy conmen like David Levi and his gang.
"They have exploited peoples' goodwill and honesty to the tune of thousands of pounds, and I'm pleased that we have been able to bring them to justice." Hayley Cooper, specialist prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: "The actions of David Levi and the criminal group deprived life-saving charities of significant amounts of money.
"Members of the public gave their money generously and in good faith, perhaps reassured by seeing the logos of national charities. Sadly, the majority of the donations were pocketed by the defendants. Whenever money is collected for charity there must be absolute transparency and in bucket collections, every penny donated must go those charities. At the CPS, we have specialist teams to prosecute cases of serious fraud such as this and we work closely with investigators to bring perpetrators to justice."
The Charity Commission for England and Wales said: "These criminals shamefully abused the good name of some of Britain's most well-known charities and their jail sentences send a strong warning. Most charity fundraising is legitimate and scams of this scale are rare. But as opportunistic scammers can try to take advantage of the trust we have in charities, if you think something doesn't seem right either report it to the charity or check if it is listed on one of three charity registers in the UK."
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