A woman has been handed a prison sentence after spending money she raised for victims of the Australian bushfires in 2020 on clothes and beauty treatments instead of transferring the funds to charities.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary reported that Kerry Palin raised £34,000 for the cause but gave a total of $20 AUD (£10) to four charities and spent the rest on herself.
Palin was sentenced to one year and four months in prison at Peterborough Crown Court on 11 August.
Her partner, David Collins, was given a conditional discharge after pleading guilty to acquiring criminal property, after parcels at their home were found in his name.
Online auction
Palin was living in Peterborough in January 2020 when she set up an online auction on Facebook to help raise money for victims of the bushfires. The page had 7,000 members and more than 300 people donated goods to sell.
Those who bid for the items paid the money directly to Palin via her bank or PayPal accounts, believing the funds would be distributed to charities helping animals and wildlife victims of the fires.
Palin donated $5 AUD each to four different charities and sent doctored screenshots of the receipts.
If donors raised their concerns, Palin would block them so they were unable to contact her.
After mounting pressure from donors and issues with her PayPal account due to the high level of funds being transferred, Palin contacted police herself and admitted to spending some of the money on luxury items, including a treadmill, hair extensions and a new rug.
She later pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, concealing criminal property and acquiring criminal property.
‘Appalling case’
PC Sam Dane, who investigated, said: “This was an appalling case of fraud where Palin not only deceived generous, kind-natured individuals, but deprived the wildlife victims of the wildfires of thousands of pounds in donations, which would have made a huge difference to their lives.
“Instead of helping the desperate victims of these horrific events, the money was spent on frivolous and unnecessary luxuries.
“I hope this goes to show how seriously we take these offences and I am glad justice has been done.
“I would urge anyone wanting to donate money to good causes to be vigilant and, if in doubt, consider giving directly to the charity itself.”
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