Nottinghamshire Police has recently published a case concerning an administrative assistant at a local cancer charity who stole donations.

The admin assistant organised visits to theme parks for sick children but kept hundreds of the donated tickets and sold them on eBay.

The fraudster also organised grants to be paid into bogus family accounts, with the investigation uncovering that the bank accounts were actually linked to herself.

Overall she made approximately £30k from her dishonest actions between 2015 and 2021 and was only uncovered when a company that provided free tickets noticed that they were for sale on eBay, with the eBay account indirectly linked to the admin assistant.

She made admissions when interviewed by the police and on 5 July 2024 was jailed for two years and four months for fraud by false representation and concealing criminal property.

In a second court case, a former manager of a social care charity was jailed for twelve months on 27 June 2024 after she admitted to embezzling approximately £40k from the charity’s vulnerable residents. While she was authorised to withdraw money for the residents from their bank accounts under the charity’s appointeeship, she made excessive withdrawals and falsified internal records between 2019 and 2022.

The charity had become aware of irregularities and a subsequent financial audit led to findings being reported to the police and other relevant authorities.

How to protect your charity from fraud

The Charity Governance Code for England and Wales recommends that small charities undertake regular reviews, and larger charities with an annual income of £1 million or more submitting to external governance reviews every three years. This will help assess the effectiveness of the governance structure, ensure compliance with legal requirements and adopt best practices.

GOV.UK provides guidance on how to manage your charity’s financial activity and use internal financial controls to reduce the risk of loss. It is recommended that internal financial controls are reviewed at least once a year against the legal requirements and good practice recommendations.

Internal financial controls for charities (CC8) – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Contact Melanie Alflatt, Director – Operations (Anti‑Crime & IT Audit), to discuss how TIAA can support your charity in reviewing governance and financial controls:  fraud@tiaa.co.uk