1,000 bogus charity collection bags are seized in Warwick

Trading standards officers seized 1,000 bogus air ambulance charity bags from a van in Warwick, and the companies behind the scheme were closed following an investigation by Company Investigations of the Insolvency Service.

The bags carried an image of a helicopter but are not affiliated in any way to local air ambulance services and trading standards believe the donations are being sold for profit with none of the money reaching the charities.

The companies are Air Ambulance Support Community Interest Company, St Anthony Ltd (formerly Air Ambulance Service Ltd) and St Anthony Repatriation Ltd (formerly Air Ambulance Service). Both St Anthony companies had a common director, Anthony Joseph Durkin. Tomas Mickauskas, a former director of Air Ambulance, worked as a leaflet distributor for the two St Anthony companies.

Head of Warwickshire County Council trading standards Mark Ryder said: “I am delighted that the companies associated with the bogus collection bags we recently seized have been closed down. “Warwickshire trading standards have received many complaints about these dodgy collectors and are presently investigating a number of bag collectors that Leamington residents have brought to our attention.

“There is a great deal of money to be made in recycling old and unwanted clothing. Bogus collectors claim to collect on behalf of good causes but the money they make goes into their own pockets, depriving genuine charities of much needed funds.”

Due to the failure of all three companies to maintain adequate accounting records, it is not known what became of any proceeds generated through the sale of clothing items collected by the companies, but there was no evidence found of any donations made to any Air Ambulance charity.

Investigation supervisor David Hill said: “In winding-up these companies, the court is sending a clear message that schemes which set out to deliberately mislead the public in this manner are not acceptable and will be closed when we become aware of them.”

Genuine bags carry a charity number, which can be checked by calling the Charity Commission on 0845 3000 218.