Publisher closed down after charity advertising scam

Finance | 1 Feb 2006

The Department of Trade and Industry has announced the winding up of a Manchester based publishing house that sold advertising space in ‘ghost’ publications.

The father-and-son company, Mirror Print Solutions, were found to have lied when they told advertisers that they were selling space with claims that the publications were connected to various charities, including Barnardo’s, NSPCC, Macmillan Cancer Relief and Cancer UK (sic).

The extent of their fabrications was revealed during an interview with investigators when Duncan McHugh appeared to not know even the function of Cancer UK, despite his claims that his publications had links to it.

The company further alleged to advertisers that the faux publications were distributed free to charities and schools, where in return they would receive money through selling the publications on to the public.

Throughout the investigation process, neither director gave permission for investigators to look at company files or computers. Despite the lack of co-operation, investigators established that up to October 2004, £241,597 was taken from advertisers in the scam. None of this money was donated to charity.

Directory: Barnardo's | Macmillan | National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)

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