£70,000 stolen from charity

Stephen Naysmith

Social affairs correspondent

Friday 19 October 2012

A LEADING charity has lost £70,000 in an alleged embezzlement.

REASSURANCE: Robina Qureshi said the housing charity's work was not threatened. Picture: Edward Jones

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Stephen Naysmith

Glasgow-based Positive Action in Housing (PAIH) uncovered the theft, thought to have been carried out by a former member of staff, in June. However, the sum involved has only just been confirmed.

PAIH director Robina Qureshi condemned the actions of the individual, who had held a position of trust at the charity.

But she said its work –which includes promoting affordable housing for minority groups and work with destitute asylum-seekers – is not threatened and vowed to reclaim "every penny".Ms Qureshi said £69,664 had been lost and £50,000 was being recovered under PAIH's insurance, while negotiations continue for the recovery of the remaining sum.She said: "The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator recently informed Positive Action in Housing it has no concerns and commended the charity's actions and its speed in handling the situation. "This was a bad experience but an important lesson that has made us stronger, including through improved fraud prevention and detection measures."The charity's trustees commissioned an independent forensic audit of PAIH's finances, and this has given it a clean bill of health, she added, while revealing the flaws in its procedures which had been exploited.The Office of the Scottish Charity regulator confirmed it had closed its file on the case. Strathclyde Police said officers were looking into the loss of funds at the charity.

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£70,000 stolen from charity

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