Friday 27th June, 2014

An RNLI employee has been arrested on suspicion of fraud after the charity raised concerns which were referred to Dorset police on 8th May.

The empolyee's actions were initially referred by the RNLI to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and internet crime reporting centre, before being passed to the police.

A spokeswoman said: "As a result of the investigation, a 53-year-old man from the Wareham area was arrested on suspicion of fraud and has been released on police bail until the middle of March, 2015."

A statement emailed to RNLI staff, which has its headquarters in Poole, Dorset, said the organisation was "taking the matter very seriously" and conducting an internal investigation as well as working with the police.

The statement said: "To the best of the RNLI’s knowledge at this time, the allegations that have been made are in relation to an isolated incident and relate to a single member of the organisation."

According to Action Fraud, police forces in England and Wales this incident is far from being an isoliated one in relation to the charity sector, and the organisation recorded 270 reports of alleged charity fraud in the final three months of 2013.