The trustee of a charity who made £37,000 in false claims from the Gift Aid tax relief has been sentenced.

The investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) discovered Zunaid Abubaker Patel, 31, from Blackburn, submitted four Gift Aid declarations for £149,678 worth of donations to the charity ‘Help Africa’, which claimed to carry out charitable work in Malawi and other African countries.

These claims qualified for repayments of £37,419.

However, HMRC discovered that the donations had been faked and the money from the repayments stolen by Patel.

Sandra Smith, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said, “This was a despicable crime designed purely to steal from taxpayers, while pretending to support vulnerable people and communities overseas.

"Patel thought he could abuse the Gift Aid system to enhance his own lifestyles without getting caught, but when it comes to uncovering fraud HMRC investigators are experts. Patel will now pay the price for his criminal actions.”

The Charity Commission, who assisted HMRC with this investigation, de-registered the Help Africa charity and HMRC has now begun action to recover the stolen tax.

At court, His Honour Judge Waldron QC said that Patel had a “high degree of responsibility and therefore culpability as a trustee of the charity" and that "using a charity for personal gain is repugnant" adding Patel had "avoided prison by a whisker."

Patel was jailed for eight months suspended for two years, received a supervision order for two years and a 200-hour unpaid community work order on 5 October 2015 at Preston Crown Court.

Patel pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation under the Fraud Act 2006 on 25 June 2015.

The Help Africa charity was paid £18,000 in Gift Aid payments, of the £37,000 applied for by Patel, prior to detection.

Gift Aid tax relief can only be claimed on donations received by a UK registered charity from an individual if: donors have paid enough tax on UK Income or Capital Gains Tax to cover the amount a charity will claim. The donation takes the form of a sum of money and donors have signed a Gift Aid Donation form confirming they want the charity to claim Gift Aid tax relief on the donation.

The charity must use the donation in accordance with its charitable objectives.