Bogus Leeds charity collectors ‘bought fliers in a lay-by’

Alens Liepins, 29, and Ingrs Liepins, 27, both of Woodfield Court, Gipton, are accused of leafleting houses across Leeds pretending to pick up clothes donations for a cancer charity.

Leeds magistrates have already heard how thousands of bogus fliers for Macmillan Cancer Support were found at Ingrs’s home at Burley Wood Lane, Burley, last year.

The fliers, posted around the Woodlesford area, urged people to donate clothes, jewellery, shoes and other items for collection.

Yesterday Alens told Leeds Magistrates’ Court he had seen a job advertised on a website from a man claiming to be from the charity and agreed to meet him at a McDonald’s restaurant in Leeds city centre.

Alens said he had agreed to get involved with a new project for the charity and a couple of months later met the man, who he believed to be Lithuanian, at a lay-by on the A64 where he bought 100,000 fliers for £800.

He said: “When I met him there wasn’t any reason for me to think that he wasn’t from Macmillan.”

Alens’s company, Alvit Ltd, was employed by Erfolge Ltd to pick up charity bags for the National Blind Children’s Society – but he was restricted by the contract from undertaking work for other charities.

He added: “It was only a short experiment because I wanted to do something else to gain profits and I was thinking of changing charities. There was not great financial need but I just wished for something better.”

Jane Dodson, defending, told the court Alens had previously given information to the police to help with similar investigations against other people.

Police found the pair, who are originally from Latvia, with around 40 charity bags in their van, some of which were labelled for Macmillan.

They were arrested on October 28 and deny the charges.

The case was adjourned until September 27.