A man has been jailed for three years for fraudulent charity collections on railways in London.
Mohammed Nazmul Alam, aged 36, of St George’s Road, London, pleaded guilty at Blackfriars Crown Court (pictured) on Monday to one count of fraud by abuse of position He was sentenced at the same hearing.
Alam collected money on railways around London for his charity, the Non Alliance Social Aid Foundation, but diverted it to his own accounts, and those of a fake Indian restaurant. He stole £167,000 over four years.
His accountant and co-defendant, Mohammed Mohsin, aged 60, of Roll Gardens, Ilford, signed off falsified accounts and sent them to the Charity Commission. At the same hearing he pleaded guilty to supplying false or misleading information to the Charity Commission. He was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.
The pair were arrested by British Transport Police under Operation Sovereign, which targets fraudulent charity collecting on the railway network.
In late 2016, BTP officers noticed that the charity had been collecting extensively on the railway but their declared accounts on the Charity Commission website did not look correct. On 10 November 2016, officers attended the charity’s head office in Stratford and Alam was arrested on suspicion of fraud by abuse of position. Mohsin was arrested in January this year.
The charity has now been removed from the register because it ceased to exist.
Tracy Howarth, head of regulatory compliance at the Charity Commission said: “The deliberate criminal abuse of charities in this way is appalling and as this case shows, will not be tolerated.
“We are pleased to have cooperated closely with the British Transport Police to support their investigation and secure these convictions and sentences.
“We will continue to rigorously pursue those who deliberately seek to abuse for their own personal gain the generous public trust and support that charities receive.”
Related articles
