Police Called in As Welsh Anti-Poverty Fund Boss Paid Cash to Her Relatives ; One Brother Received Pounds 40,000 for Brazilian Ju Jitsu Course: Family Was Profiting From Funding Meant to Aid Poor, Report Alleges

Western Mail › March 18, 2010

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Summary

TENS of thousands of pounds from the Assembly Government's flagship antipoverty programme were used to provide payments to a manager's family members, it has been revealed.

A report from the Wales Audit Office detailed how at least six relatives of Miriam Beard, co-ordinator of Plas Madoc Communities First in Wrexham, were allegedly profiting from money meant to help one of Wales' poorest communities.

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Extract

Police Called in As Welsh Anti-Poverty Fund Boss Paid Cash to Her Relatives ; One Brother Received Pounds 40,000 for Brazilian Ju Jitsu Course: Family Was Profiting From Funding Meant to Aid Poor, Report Alleges

The report strongly criticises the Assembly Government's lack of financial checks on how Communities First cash is spent.

Last night Social Justice Minister Carl Sargeant confirmed the findings have been passed to North Wales Police.

More than pounds 241m has been spent on the programme's projects in Wales' most deprived area...

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