A worker who defrauded a charity payroll agency which processes donations of £50 million a year, has avoided an immediate jail sentence today, Wednesday, April 1.

Matthew Tiller, who worked for Tavistock-based charity Charitable Giving for seven years, defrauded the charity of £192,000, using it to fund high-level living, a court was told.

Charitable Giving is an HMRC-approved and audited Payroll Giving Agency and registered charity.

The non-profit organisation processes donations from companies and individuals in places like Canada and America to give to charities and provides the donors with tax benefits.

Tillier defrauded Charitable Giving by paying donations intended for charities directly into his own bank account over five weeks in 2024. He used the proceeds to pay off his £30,000 credit card debts, buy two vehicles and give money to his mother and a builder friend.

More fraudulent transactions worth £33,000 were foiled by Lloyds Bank in Ireland who saw that funds were being paid into personal accounts.

The chief executive officer of the charity confronted Tiller and he made full admissions saying he had “got into debt”.

Plymouth Crown Court heard Tillier still owes £105,000 but some funds have been frozen in a bank account - and the total may be nearer to £80,000.

Prosecutor Nick Lewin said Tillier, now 26, used the money for 'high level living' and gifting large amounts to his mother and a friend.

Mike Brown, defending, said it was a very unpleasant offence and defrauding a charity was 'particularly distasteful'.

Tillier, who has no previous convictions, admitted one charge of fraud.

Judge Matthew Turner jailed him for two years, suspended for two years.

He said: "Particular charities lost out of these sums and [it] had a detrimental effect on them."

A confiscation hearing will be held at a later date and Tillier said he hopes and intends to repay the money he stole.

Charitable Giving CEO Clare Mortimer said after the hearing: “We were very saddened by this. Matthew was a promising employee who had been with us since school and it came as a big shock to discover he had started to steal.

“We are a close-knit team in the office and correcting his mess put a big strain on the rest of the members for a while.

“But it would have been a lot worse, had our systems not meant he was caught quickly, and we were determined that no client and no charity should lose out as a result of what he had done. We are pleased to say we achieved that.

“Now that Matthew has pleaded guilty and been sentenced, we can put this behind us and move forward with the business, which is helping companies and individuals donate to charity.

“We are very grateful to the police for all their work on this case and I personally am immensely proud of my staff for the way they have managed the situation.”