City of London police raid on Charity Bag fraud gang

We have had various discussions on the site about charity bag collections from door steps and bogus collectors so I was interested to pick up this press release from social enterprise Clothes Aid who work with charities like the NSPCC and the Battersea Dogs Home about a raid on an operation in Essex:

Major strike against charity bag fraud gang: City of London Police has made a major raid on a bogus collector with the back-up assistance of Clothes Aid.

The City of London Police has conducted a major strike against an organised crime gang suspected of stealing secondhand clothes worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to UK charities. The National Fraud Investigation Bureau (NFIB) has been helped over the course of 2011 with background information from Clothes Aid. 

On Thursday 8 September, 30 officers descended on a depot in Rainham, Essex, believed to be the hub of an international criminal network.Two men were arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation and money laundering and £20,000 in cash were seized, along with charity bags, computers and correspondence.A further two men were arrested shortly after at properties in East London and Essex, with all four later released on bail. 

Charity bag fraud is estimated to be costing the charity sector up to £50m each year. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau is uncovering increasing evidence of organised crime gangs targeting bags of secondhand clothes left out on pavements for charities to collect.The gangs are also setting up their own unregistered charities to dupe people into making donations using fraudulent charity bags sent through the post. The bogus charity’s collectors, many of whom have been trafficked in from abroad and operating with false ID cards, will move into an area early in the morning to collect their own bags plus any others left for legitimate charities.