Man who staged fake charity collections is jailed (From Daily Echo)

Man who staged fake charity collections is jailed

2:30pm Wednesday 6th February 2013 in News

Roy Bardy

A man who conned Hampshire commuters of their hard-earned cash by staging fake charity collections has been jailed.

Over three years Roy Bardy, recruited volunteers and employees to stand at railway stations across the country including Winchester.

Officers investigating the 48-year-old found he was approaching charities and offering his services as a fundraiser to recruiting teams to stand at stations and collect donations.

Once he gained the charities trust he would contact train operators, to gain permission for his collectors to visit the stations.

Although some of the cash may have been handed to the charities Brady admitted to pocketing much of the money himself.

Now Roy Bardy, 48, faces 13-months behind bars after pleading guilty to two charges of false representation.

Sentencing him Judge Henry Blacksell said: “You made multiple fraudulent, deceiving transactions over the years. It was a breach of trust and a representation which causes people to suffer. You are a manipulator, and a dishonest man.”

Speaking after the case the head of the charity watchdog the Fundraising Standards board, Alistair McLean said: “This has come at a time when genuine charities need the public's donations now more than ever.

“The British Transport Police are to be congratulated on pursuing this case through to a successful prosecution. Without doing so, many more charity supporters may have been duped by this man and vital charitable donations lost.”