Children's charity lost £13.5k over unfulfilled clothing order

Tuesday 01 October 2019

A charity supporting an orphanage in Nigeria says it lost £13,500 when an order for second-hand clothing was left unfulfilled by a businesswoman currently on trial in Jersey's Royal Court for an alleged £200k fraud.

Lincolnshire-born Michelle Yuksel is charged with nine counts of fraudulent activity, all of which she denies.

Her trial opened last week, with Crown Advocate Simon Thomas alleging that Ms Yuksel had taken “very large deposits” from her customers to fulfil an order for used clothes, before using the money to fund business or personal overheads and liabilities over a lengthy period.

Yesterday, the prosecution called a couple from the UK to give evidence. The man, who was said to be experienced in imports and exports, primarily in motor parts and food, told Court that he had placed an order with Ms Yuksel's business in early 2013.

Pictured: The man had placed an order for used clothes.

He told the jury he was involved in a joint venture with a charity supporting an orphanage in Nigeria, for whom he was trying to raise income.

He was planning on selling used clothes purchased from Ms Yuksel's business and to share the profits with the charity. According to the man, half of the money he had sent to Ms Yuksel's business had come from the charity.

Although he had originally contacted Parisma Limited, it was Logistics2Go - another business owned by Ms Yuksel - that issued the pro forma invoice.

The man paid his order in full - £25,080 - on 29 April, as well as a further £2,420 the following month. 

Speaking of the months that followed, the man recalled an ongoing situation where "nothing is happening".

Pictured: Ms Yuksel's trial is being heard in Royal Court.

He explained how, after being told a number of excuses about why his container still hadn't been shipped, there was a "new development" when he was told it was being held by Customs.

While he said the majority of his contact was with Ms Yuksel's employees, he said she "knew what was going on" and "was familiar with his issue" when he met her.

His wife explained that she had gotten involved as she didn't feel "confident about what was going on".

She confirmed the couple had neither received their order nor a refund. 

Ms Yuksel's trial continues today and is expected to conclude early next week.