Pudsey Bear conmen made £500,000 from fake charity collections

A gang of fraudsters who posed as Pudsey Bear charity collectors conned the public out of more than £500,000 in a decade-long scam.

Between 2011 and 2021, the criminals set up bogus charity collections at supermarkets across England and Scotland, pretending to raise money for organisations including Children in Need and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

The gang used T-shirts, logos and marketing material that they requested from the charities to give the impression they were legitimate charity collectors.

On some occasions, they wore Pudsey Bear outfits that had been bought online and used email addresses and websites set up to look like legitimate charities.

But despite carrying out supermarket collections from the south coast to north of the border they handed over only a small percentage of the takings to the charities, Preston Crown Court heard.

When supermarket staff challenged the fraudsters about the bogus collections, they were told they would lose their jobs or be reported to the national press.

Heading the gang was David Levi, 49, a convicted conman who claimed that he ran a legitimate fundraising business and relied on disability benefits and an inheritance from his father.

He paid the rent on his flat in Lytham St Annes, Lancs, in cash and splashed out on business-class flights to Australia and a Hummer that he imported from America.

In 2015, he paid £12,500 for a 28-night stay at a luxury villa in Australia, with a further £10,500 for flights with Emirates.

When asked to account for the money he had spent, Levi claimed he was working as an escort but was too embarrassed to declare the money to HMRC, and had inherited £100,000 in cash from his father.

‘Majority of the money was pocketed’

Assisting him was Kaysha Beck, 31, who helped set up the charity collections in-store.

She contacted supermarkets, claiming the collections had been authorised by the store’s community champions.

When collectors were turned away, Beck put pressure on supermarket staff to pay travel and accommodation costs, and claimed that the collections had been authorised by head office.

Also involved in the scam were Howard Collins, 73, who helped organise collections and went out collecting. He introduced a number of people to GOSH and wrote letters claiming to be from the North of England Events Office, which did not exist.

William Ormand went out collecting, but was also involved in paying other collectors and appeared to have assisted Levi. Martin Ebanks, 59, Robert Roy Ferguson, 63, and Stephen Chesterman, 63, also collected for the conspiracy.

Richard Atkins KC, prosecuting, said: “In essence it involved the defendants collecting monies from the public under the guise that the monies collected would all be handed over to the charities whose logos were being displayed.

“The reality was that only a fraction of the monies handed over by members of the public ever reached the charities. The majority of the money was pocketed by the defendants. In some instances, it is obvious that monies were only deposited with the charities following a police intervention or other enquiry – obviously as a smokescreen.”

In 2014, Children in Need contacted Levi and Beck after becoming aware an email address purporting to be from the charity was being used to arrange collections.

Lawyers asked Levi to cease using the Pudsey Bear logo, but within weeks he was carrying out a collection in a Waitrose store using the branding.

The following year, he contacted the charity and asked to be registered as a fundraiser or have an official endorsement from Children in Need. In 2016 and 2017, Beck applied for and was sent fundraising packs from the BBC charity.

Levi was arrested on June 21 2017 and questioned about his involvement in the charity.

He was arrested and bailed on several further occasions, but in October 2022 police were informed that he had been seen collecting at a Co-op store in Bollington, Cheshire. CCTV footage showed him entering the store with a folding table and a bag.

When Levi was arrested, officers seized Pudsey headwear, a yellow bucket and a Children in Need fundraising pack.

Levi pleaded guilty to fraud and transferring criminal property in connection with the Children in Need conspiracy, fraud in connection with Mind and Children’s Society conspiracies, and fraud while on bail for the Children in Need conspiracy.

Beck pleaded guilty to fraud and transferring criminal property in connection with the Children in Need conspiracy.

Collins pleaded guilty to fraud and transferring criminal property in connection with the GOSH conspiracy and fraud in connection with the Christie Fund conspiracy.

Ormand was convicted of fraud and transferring criminal property in connection with the Children in Need conspiracy, and fraud in connection with the GOSH and Children’s Society conspiracies, following a trial at Preston Crown Court.

Ebanks pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with the Children in Need and Children’s Society conspiracies.

Ferguson pleaded guilty to fraud and transferring criminal property in connection with the GOSH conspiracy.

Chesterman pleaded guilty to fraud in connection to the GOSH conspiracy and agreed to pay back £90,000 to avoid proceeds of crime proceedings.

All defendants will be sentenced on Thursday.