A court in the East Midlands has returned almost £30,000 of money stolen from a children’s charity, under legislation that came into force last year.
This week, Leicester Magistrates’ Court granted an order under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) legislation, allowing the funds to be returned to Southway Playcare, a Plymouth-based charity that provides childcare services.
Last year, the POCA was amended to contain new provisions allowing the return of money obtained through economic crime, such as money laundering and fraud, to victims.
Southway Playcare, which recorded a total income of £88,600 for the year ending 31 March 2024, said it would have likely folded, had the police not recovered the stolen funds.
Payment diversion fraud
Last October, Leicestershire Police obtained information suggesting that a dormant online bank account had suddenly received a large deposit.
After obtaining an account freezing order on the bank account and reviewing the account activity, investigators discovered that it was registered to Red Kite Vehicle Minibus Limited, a Leicester-based company.
The investigation found that the company had been set up to clone a legitimate business of a similar name.
The legitimate business told investigators that it had no affiliation with Red Kite Vehicle Minibus Limited and reported that one of its customers had fallen victim to a payment diversion fraud, which had been reported to Action Fraud.
“It was established that Southway Playcare in Plymouth had lost more than £29,000 to the fraud,” Leicestershire Police said in a statement.
The police said Southway Playcare had attempted to purchase an accessible minibus using grant and donation money to take children, some of whom are disabled, on day trips and residentials.
“Emails had been intercepted and a fraudulent invoice from the suspect company was provided, which the charity paid,” it added.
‘We haven’t been able to function properly’
Hayley Newcomb, manager at Southway Playcare, said: “The impact this fraud had on our organisation and team morale is hard to put into words.
“The loss of this money meant that our charity hasn’t been able to function properly and we’ve been unable to take children who use wheelchairs out on activities.
“Not only has this impacted the service users of our charity, but also our employees have felt the pain and upset of this financial loss personally.”
Paul Wenlock, head of Leicestershire Police’s economic crime unit, said: “The new legislation has allowed the police to return cash to victims who have been subject of fraud, through civil proceedings.
“Before the additional legislation came into force, victims had experienced significant difficulties in reclaiming the money which was rightly theirs.
“Victims are always at the centre of our work, so this is a great step forward.”
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