David Levi

Charities have been encouraged to ensure that fundraisers are 'legal' after a Pudsey Bear costumed as a charity that stole from charities. David Levi (pictured left and right) led a group of bogus collectors who fleeced generous members of the public out of more than £500,000 planned for a noble cause. Since he confessed to fraud and money laundering at Preston Crown Court, the 48-year-old was sentenced to five years and was given a Serious Crime Prevention Order. He can't continue fundraising activities for five years unless he goes back to prison. Following the fake do-gooder's admission that he 'wanted to continue fundraising, a regulator has warned organisations that they must take steps to ensure fundraising operations carried out in their name are 'open, honest, and lawful.'

Between 2011 and 2021, David Levi, 49, led a group of seven criminals who used T-shirts, logos, and marketing materials from various charities to create fake collections at supermarkets throughout England and Scotland. Levi's Blackpool office base helped coordinate the fraudulent collections under the false pretense that the funds would be donated to charities such as Children In Need, The Children's Society, and MIND. In truth, only a part of the funds ever reached the businesses, with the remainder owed to Levi and his gang for the bulk of the money. Levi, who was sentenced to five years in prison today, was discovered on a podcast demonstrating that he obtained a large portion of his money from 'escorting' when he was actually conning Brits out of thousands of pounds.

Between 2011 and 2021, a group of seven criminals used T-shirts, logos, and marketing literature from the charities to create fake collections at supermarkets around England and Scotland. They sounded to be collecting for Children In Need, The Children's Society, MIND, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and The Christie Fund, but they found that only a small number of the funds were collected and not the majority. Preston Crown Court heard that they wore Pudse Bear outfits, many of which had been purchased online, and that email addresses and websites were set up to look like legitimate charities on certain occasions. The fraudsters, who were led by David Levi, 49, (top and bottom left), wore Pudsey Bear clothing on certain occasions, and even used email addresses and websites to appear as legitimate charities, according to Preston Crown Court.