9. Bad Pudsey | David Levi

    In 2017, a phone call was made to Action Fraud UK by BBC Children in Need. Their concern was directed towards a man who had asked for a 90% commission from his collected donations. A month later, a decade-long scam would begin to crumble.         

Sources:
1. Pinsentmasons.com: Phishing attackers sent to prison

2. Daily Echo: Levi admits fraud during 36 day cruise

3. Daily mail: Fraudster gang conned public children's charity

4. Daily mail: Children in need collector dressed as Pudsey bear stole from charities

5. BBC News: Lancashire based gang in £500k charity fraud 

6. Lancashire Live: David Levi escort clip

7.  BBC Sounds : David Levi 

8. Youtube: @Daveyravey

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Transcript

Odeya: [00:00:00] This cheeky little chapstick is Davey Ravey, a. k. a. David Levi. A, ahem Vlogger appearing to show his attempt at charming his way out of a routine traffic stop. Despite having a knack for rubbing law enforcement up the wrong way, it's clear from his desperate attempt to deflect the question that this isn't his first time asking what seems to be the problem, officer?

Growing up in Lytham , St Anne's, a seaside town south of Blackpool, Levi with boyish features would be described by those in his circle as a born scammer, with a taste for the finer things in life. Always chasing the next best thing, which would normally be designer clothing, flashy tech, or imported cars.

His plucky ambition to be a YouTuber would see David flex his non-ecistent wealth through day in the life-style vlogs, which would normally just involve driving around towns, following police officers, or flaunting his latest purchase. Of course, this lavish lifestyle doesn't come cheap. David would find himself in regular financial difficulty, avoiding [00:01:00] bailiffs and partaking in small time scams to stay afloat.

In 2005, at the age of 29, David's actions graduated to the big leagues when he and a gang involving his brother and an IT expert were found to be orchestrating phishing attacks on eBay users to steal their credentials. After locking out account users with high positive feedback, the gang would exploit their ratings by offering expensive items such as laptops and designer watches at a discounted price.

Victims would then purchase using a third party payment method, which never completed the transaction on eBay, allowing the men to just disappear with the cash. It was the first UK conviction of phishing fraud that saw Levi land a four year jail sentence. But not before he received a further four years for his part in a drug ring that imported large quantities of cannabis from Holland and Spain, which were found secreted in orange and flower boxes.

Despite his time inside, David was soon lusting after the temptation to fall back into his old habits. In 2010, the then unemployed 36 year old [00:02:00] boarded a P& O 36 day Caribbean cruise, touring islands including Aruba, St. Lucia, and Antigua, whilst extravagantly spending money with an on board credit card.

His activities soon aroused suspicion when crew members realized that a debit card David had provided lacked the funds to support his spending. Staff immediately deactivated their credit card, but in an error, the card was reinstated, which allowed David to spash out on items such as a Tag Heuer watch, designer clothing and casino chips.

When the ship returned to Southampton, David was surprised to discover police officers waiting, who arrested him for seven charges of fraud with a value of £3, 368, an amount that would later rise to a total of $8£, 000, which David couldn't afford to pay back. The judge reluctantly sentenced David to a 12 month community order, which included doing 200 hours of unpaid work.

Much to his dismay, the judge told David, quote, I would very much have liked to have sent you to prison. I am, however, bound by the guidelines. [00:03:00] The clear frustration from the judge meant that he knew the type of person David was, and the likely act of events that would soon follow. 

I'm Host Odeya

This Is Uncharitable.

In May 2017, Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, received a phone call from BBC's Children in Need, a British charity devoted to helping disadvantaged children and young adults. Their concern was directed towards a man who had contacted them claiming to collect on their behalf.

He requested a fundraising pack before asking if he could claim a high percentage commission from the funds he had collected. The charity doesn't operate in that way, he was told, promptly encouraging the receiver to hang up the call before notifying other members of staff, who all agreed it was a rather strange request.

Their referral ended up in the hands of Lancashire Police, who traced the details the man left to the name David Levi. 

Sure, it didn't necessarily mean much. [00:04:00] Anyone could request a pact to aid a sponsor campaign or event, but the man's rather greedy request for 90 per cent commission immediately sparked interest for authorities to investigate further.

Operation Musketeer, led by Lancashire's Chief Inspector Mark Riley, would begin to monitor David Levi's activities. When combing through collected surveillance footage, police would quickly learn a typical day in the life would involve David showing up to a supermarket, posing as a legitimate fundraiser on behalf of a charity.

The 47 year old would shamelessly sport charity branded t shirts or glittery bowler hats, even shaking branded collection buckets and offering fundraising merchandise. It was also discovered that Davey was not working alone. A month later, a raid at his property recovered multiple tablets, charity items and phones, which were traced to a second property David had used as a base for the scam.

After sifting through financial, telephone and cell siting evidence, police quickly learned six other individuals led by David had been [00:05:00] traveling nationwide to falsely represent charities such as MIND, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Children In Need and the Christie Fund. 

When starting out, David created a fake fundraising website, along with fake email addresses made to appear like legitimate ones.

With the help of his assistant, 31 year old Kaysha Beck, the pair would correspond with businesses asking to hold collections within their stores, which, if on the day, any of the collectors were turned away or a staff became suspicious, Kaysha would demand the staff reimburse their travel and accommodation expenses, claiming they had already been cleared through head office.

Is staff still questioned further? Kaysha Would then threaten to have the staff fired, or pressure the media to publish stories about them. 

Other members, including 73 year old Howard Collins, 59 year old Martin E. Banks, 63 year old Roy Ferguson, 63 year old Stephen Chesterman, and 64 year old William Ormond, would attend collections several times a week, claiming to be from a different charity each time.[00:06:00]

And to start with, the charities themselves were supportive when they thought the gang was kosher, but as time went on organisations became suspicious when complaints were raised. 

Notably, this was not Children in Need's first Rodeo with Levi. In 2014 the charity became aware an email address pretending to be them was being used to arrange collections, so lawyers told David to cease using their name and their signature Pudsey Bear logo.

But instead, David just took it as a challenge to get better at avoiding detection, which, in the following year, served little benefit when he tried and failed to register as a fundraiser, so he started to deposit small amounts of cash to each charity as a smokescreen. 

When the scam became more advanced, the gang would print their own ID badges attached to branded lanyards, purchase banners and newsletter headed paper, they even made their own collection buckets that looked identical to the real thing.

These lengths they went to was astounding, which naturally raises the [00:07:00] question Where did all that money go? Well, luckily for us, someone liked to show off. 

cold world out there kids, so make sure you grab your coat. 

On June 21st, David was arrested. After investigating his personal accounts, it was revealed around 196 cash deposits, totaling £47, 835 55 were made between 2011 and 2017.

When asked where it came from, David claimed he may have won it from the casino or the bookies. 

It could have been from anywhere, he said. 

What about the £12, 500 spent on a villa in Australia, the £10, 500 Emirates flights, or the £5, 000 used to import a U. S. police Dodge Charger? 

Oh Those, well, he didn't like to talk about it, 

but 

Sorry, what was that?

I thought that's what you said. 

Levi claimed he never declared the income, as he was too embarrassed to admit his profession. But the only evidence to even come close [00:08:00] to a list of client names was the diary he kept containing the locations of his upcoming supermarket collections. 

As for living expenses, David claimed he inherited £100, 000 from his father, as well as receiving disability benefits.

Which, I guess is what he used when purchasing a flight simulator, not long before his arrest. 

That's right, a flight simulator. 

The next day, David was released from bail, where he waited less than 24 hours before calling up children in need to complain about the . "Early morning wake up call he had received from police", Kerry Howard, head of operations, said David had made her become uncomfortable when he told her it was a "criminal offence to lie in a police station", and suggested the police would come knocking at her door after she submitted a report that was " full of lies about a genuine fundraiser"

when he got bored of that, he took to social media to mock the investigators involved in his case, and according to the BBC, even sent abusive text messages to the lead detective, which read " My fucking website is none [00:09:00] of your fucking business, and nothing to do with children in need, so get that into your thick head".

In October 2022, police were informed David had been seen yet again collecting at a co-op store in Bowlington, Cheshire, where CCTV showed him entering the store with a foldable table and bag. When police arrived, they seized more Pudsey branded headwear, a yellow bucket, and a Children in Need fundraising pack.

When David appeared in court a year later, in September 2023, he begged the judge to lift the terms of his bail so he could sell a charity publication in Scotland. When the judge refused, he argued that Scotland shouldn't fall under the order, to which the judge responded by remanding David in custody until his sentencing three months later.

On December 21st, David and his co defendants appeared before Preston Crown Court to await their fate. 

The court learned the police managed to trace £500, 000 through the gang's bank accounts, with less than 10 percent paid to the charities they were supposedly fundraising for. [00:10:00]

Alongside Kaysha Beck, Howard Collins also assisted in arranging bogus collections, and even wrote letters to victims claiming to be from the North of England events office, which in reality, did not exist.

William Ormond became David's right hand man, collecting and laundering the money, with Roy Ferguson, Martin Ebanks, and Stephen Chesterman participating in collections up and down the country. 

Judge Andrew Jeffries described the group as, "brazen and despicable" I can only guess the actual amount you stole, he said.

Jenny Davis of Lancashire Police described the scam as a,, "organized large scale operation", with David as the mastermind. 

Mastermind. Really. 

If you say so. 

" We heard of children going over and giving their pocket money into the bucket because they thought it was genuine, and the collector would often be wearing the t shirt of that charity. All while David was enjoying a cash rich lifestyle, which included expensive cars, designer clothes and first class flights to [00:11:00] Australia".

"This was a massive breach of trust, said the judge. You're exploited the public's goodwill, and in some cases, private grief".

Children in need agreed, saying "Generous individuals that donate to charity do so to make an impact on those that need it most, and given the rising need that has escalated in recent years. The ones most impacted by the case are the beneficiaries of the charities affected". 

The Christie Fund added, " our supporters are incredibly generous, kind and committed to the cause. It is sad to think that some of them donated in good faith, believing the money would go directly to cancer patients, when in this instance, it wasn't the case".

Davey Lavey was sentenced to five years after pleading guilty to fraud and money laundering, with an extra five year crime prevention order following his release on license. 

Roy Ferguson, Kaysha Beck, Martin Ebanks, Howard Collins, and Stephen Chesterman all pled guilty to similar charges and was jailed between 18 months and four years.

[00:12:00] William Ormond received three years and four months after he denied four counts of fraud, but was convicted after a separate trial. 

Months later, in an email exchange from prison, David denied being a scammer to the BBC and claimed that he and his co defendants were 

 "Simply taking expenses for events that we had to pay for up front. The only reason this became a mess was the fact that there was no contract to confirm the agreement with the charities, so I had no alternative but to plead guilty to the charges". 

How unfortunate. 

And what about his plans for when he gets out? 

Well,

"I fully intend to fundraise, he said. I enjoy raising money for good causes".

Go figure.

Uncharitable was created by me, Host Odeya, with the vision to illuminate the unethical shadows within philanthropy. 

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