Two jailed for Lotto fraud
Last Updated: Thursday 24th September 2020, 14:55
Two people have been jailed for fraud over charity applications to Children in Need, Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Fund. Between 2001 and 2005 the couple made various fraudulent applications for charity money but they actually used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle. It was not until a similar application for a lottery grant had been put into the Big Lottery Fund that suspicions were aroused.
It was this application to the National Lottery that sparked an investigation, this revealed that while some charity work had been done, most of the cash had been spent on maintaining their lavish lifestyle.
The whole situation is made worse by the fact that the accused were selling the secrets of their fraud, showing others how charity funds could be accessed without checks.
So many of us buy lottery tickets and give to charities in good faith and the public has to be confident that lottery money for good causes is used appropriately. The judge took this into consideration when jailing them for four years on Friday.
Stealing money intended for charitable donations is a horrendous crime, especially when you consider what good that money could do in the right hands. The Big Lottery Fund deserves a big pat on the back for noticing the discrepancies, without them, this couple may have got away with this fraud for even longer.
Now you can buy Wednesday’s lottery tickets safe in the knowledge that your good causes money is indeed going to good causes.