DROITWICH company Fish4Dogs helped a rescue charity that was fleeced of thousands of pounds by a bogus ‘volunteer’, writes Bethany Lewis.
Police traced £88,000 belonging to Cornwall-based K9 Crusades which was stolen by Katrina Jones but charity founder Sue Smith believes the amount is in the region of £212,000.
Sue appeared on Chanel 5’s ‘Do The Right Thing’ this week to tell her story and warn other charities.
She explained she had befriended Katrina who claimed to be a qualified accountant and offered to help her run the charity’s finances.
Sue, who was vulnerable at the time following her husband and co-founder’s death from terminal cancer, allowed Katrina to run the finances. Shortly afterwards Sue discovered financial irregularities and reported them to the police.
Katrina Jones was found guilty of 29 counts of theft totalling more than £500,000 from a number of organisations.
Unfortunately for K9 Crusaders, it was unable to recover the cash.
The ‘Do The Right Thing’ programme-makers contacted Fish4Dogs which agreed to help the charity by donating two sheds full of dog food.
The donation was revealed to Sue during the live show, bringing her to tears.
Executive Producer Richard Woolfe said: “The show cannot thank Fish4Dogs enough. It really is very kind and will be much appreciated.”
Visit my5.tv/live-do-the-right-thing/season-2 to view the episode.
Visit fish4dogs.com for more information on Fish4Dogs and caninecrusaders.org to donate or fund-raise for K9 Crusaders.
