Ex-Nottinghamshire miners get £1m after fraud probe
- Published
More than £1m has been given to mining communities in Nottinghamshire following a Charity Commission investigation.
Neil Greatrex, former leader of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM), was jailed in 2012 for stealing money from a miners' charity.
Greatrex took about £150,000 from a nursing home in Lincolnshire. He has since paid the money back.
The charity's assets have been passed on to a trust to help ex-miners.
An investigation into Nottinghamshire Miners Home (NMH) began in 2007 after the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) raised concerns.
It later emerged the charity's trading subsidiary, Phoenix Nursing and Residential Home Ltd in Skegness, was being misused for the private benefit of its trustees.
In 2012, a court heard Greatrex had billed the nursing home for a new kitchen and other personal home improvements.
He was found guilty of 14 counts of theft and jailed for four years.
Harvey Grenville, from the Charity Commission, said the case involved an "appalling and cynical misuse of funds intended for deserving people".
NMH was wound up and removed from the register of charities in January 2017.
The Nottingham Miners Welfare Trust Scheme has been given assets from it of £1,142,573 to support people in the county.
Mr Grenville added: "This inquiry protected important charitable assets and ensured that funds could be put to good use for mining communities in Nottinghamshire."
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- Published27 April 2012
- Published3 April 2012