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“It’s difficult to imagine a more wicked fraud than this as you have deprived disabled and terminally ill children by defrauding the charity for your own pocket.”
These were the words of Recorder William Clegg KC as he jailed two people for more than eight years on Thursday 13 June for stealing more than £300,000 from a Clacton children’s charity.
Ruksana Khan, of Westfield Road, Blackpool, had pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court in 2021 to defrauding the non-profit organisation over a four-year period from 2011 to 2015. The 68 year-old was sentenced to 5 years and 11 months in prison.
James Donovan, 58, also of Westfield Road, Blackpool, denied three counts of fraud but was found guilty by a jury at the same court in January this year. He joined Khan in the dock and was jailed for three years.
The sentencing followed a complex investigation by a team from Clacton’s Criminal Investigation Department which dated back to 2017.
The court had heard how Khan set up Kidz Come First in 2011. She ran the charity from her previous home address in Clacton, which she shared with Donovan who was a charity trustee from its inception.
Following complaints received by the Charity Commission, a police investigation was launched.
The charity had people collecting cash for them up and down the country under the premise of providing funds to support children with disabilities or terminal illnesses. But large sums were actually being used by both defendants for their personal gain, including gambling and paying household bills.
While the charity did help some families, others were promised respite holidays, equipment and even a ground floor extension for a disabled wet room. These promises were never fulfilled.
Donovan had opened the charity’s bank account, and statements showed that thousands of pounds was paid into Khan’s personal account. This money was used for on-line gambling sites.
Large sums of money were also paid into Donovan’s personal account between 2013 and 2016. And between this time money was also paid to gambling sites.
Lead investigating officer Detective Constable Claire March said:
“This has been a complex investigation.
"Khan and Donovan have shown no remorse throughout this case.
"Khan set up the charity with a clear motive from the beginning to steal funds for their gambling addictions and lifestyle.
"To steal £315,000 from a children’s charity where the money should have been spent on disabled and terminally ill children for equipment, healthcare and respite holidays is absolutely shocking.
"They have both received the sentences they deserve. Police are in the process of applying for confiscation orders to recoup some of the money stolen.”
The charity was dissolved in February 2016 and removed from the charity register the same month.
Before the sentencing, the court held a Newton hearing on Wednesday 12 June in relation to the details of the offence Khan had pleaded guilty to.
Khan had admitted £80,000 worth of theft, but at the hearing Mr Clegg found the defendant had actually stolen £315,000 from the charity.
A Newton hearing, sometimes called a trial of issue, is held after a defendant pleads guilty to an offence, but the factual circumstances need to be agreed before sentencing.
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