A former charity director is facing 25 charges relating to an alleged £1m Gift Aid fraud involving a youth support charity.
Wendy Macbean, 60, and of St Johnston, Lifford, is accused of committing the alleged offences in the name of Foyle Youth and Community Association, which is based in Derry, Northern Ireland.
Macbean was due to appear at Bishop Street Courthouse in Derry on Tuesday to face charges of cheating public revenue law between October 2017 and May 2020, but the case has been adjourned until 3 April.
She has also been charged with defrauding HM Revenue & Customs between October 2017 and December 2018 by submitting false charity returns which claimed FYACA received £1,009,367, for which she claimed Gift Aid of £252,364.
The charity’s latest accounts say it had an income of £91,769 to the year ending 30 June 2018.
Macbean is charged with nine counts of fraud by false representation and a further nine counts of transferring criminal property totalling £94,676 from the charity to her personal account.
She also faces a further six counts of forgery in the charity’s name relating to alleged forged donation and sponsorship forms in the name of FYACA.
The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland launched a statutory inquiry into FYACA in April 2021.
The regulator said its inquiry related to concerns regarding the governance and administration of the charity, which operates Ilico Gym and Studios.
The charity is no longer operating.
“The commission’s inquiry is on hold pending the outcome of the legal proceedings,” said the regulator.
“As a proportionate regulator, and so as to ensure that the investigation is fair, the commission will not be making any further comment while the case remains open.”
The charity registered with the regulator in December 2014 and CCNI appointed Gerard McGuckin and Thomas Doran as additional charity trustees after opening the 2021 inquiry.
McGuckin and Doran are listed as the sole trustees at the charity, according to the CCNI website.