A 33-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to conning people in Bath who thought they were donating money to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
The city was one of the places where scammer Eileen McDonagh, at times accompanied by children, obtained payments via a SumUp card machine.
Among the ruses used to obtain donations was that a sponsored swim was being planned in aid of the RNLI.
An investigation found that transactions which went to her, not charity, totalled more than £26,000.
At Bath Magistrates’ Court last Thursday, 22nd May, McDonagh, of Kings Avenue in Redbridge, London, admitted four specimen charges of fraud by false representation under the Fraud Act 2006 and a further charge to conceal, disguise, convert, transfer or remove criminal property.
Appearing alongside her in the dock was Martin McDonagh, of Higham Hill, Walthamstow, London, who is accused of concealing, disguising, converting, transferring or removing criminal property amounting to £4,151.
The 35-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Magistrates granted both defendants unconditional bail and sent them to Bristol Crown Court, where they will appear on 27th June.
Eileen McDonagh, who has been warned she is facing custody for the offences she has admitted, was told by the magistrates that her sentencing may be delayed until after Martin McDonagh’s trial.
