BRITAIN’S ‘kindest plumber’ lied about helping people and splashed donations on a house and a car, an investigation has claimed.
James Anderson, 54, claims he helped thousands of elderly and vulnerable people in need since launching not-for-profit company Depher.
His ‘acts of kindness’ hit headlines after a snap of his bill for £0 sent to a 91-year-old woman with acute leukaemia was posted online.
He continued to carry out good deeds as millions of pounds in donations came flooding in.
But now Anderson, who was praised by the King and late Queen, has admitted lying about his heroics by faking testimonies from customers including people from who were dead.
He also splashed donations from the public and stars including Hugh Grant on an Audi for himself – and paid off some of his mortgage.
His company Depher – Disabled and Elderly Plumbing and Heating Emergency Repair – had claimed that had stopped an elderly woman from killing herself.
But a BBC investigation claims that she had actually died years earlier.
The post online in 2022 read: : “A lady, 84 years old rang @DepherUK & spoke to myself, she was upset and desperate.
“She lived 53 miles away in #Preston I drive as fast as I could, when in got there she had a noose ready to commit suicide. All she wanted was hot water! #costoflivingcrisis”
However, the woman pictured, Joyce, had actually died in 2020 – with her daughter Andrea saying Anderson was “using vulnerable people like my mother as a money-making machine”.
Anderson denied posting the image himself but admitted the post was “not true”.
Another woman, Gemma from Burnley, claims Anderson used pictures of her without permission and misrepresented her as a thief.
Depher posted online that she had been a victim of domestic violence that had no food in her house.
The post alleged that she stole from their fundraising shop – which Gemma denies.
She said: “It was probably the most vulnerable I have been in my life. They’ve just made something that’s very private to my life very, very public.”
Anderson claims she had given permission for her photo to be used and stood by the theft allegations.
It’s also claimed that Anderson used money raised for Depher to buy a home.
Among the donors were, reportedly, celebrities such as the singer Lily Allen, Emmerdale actress Samantha Giles and actor Hugh Grant, who gave £75,000 alone.
Depher CIC is not officially classed as a charity, but can accept donations as a community interest company.
Company filings show that Depher purchased a house as an “investment property” for £73,125 – which is now reportedly being rented out to a member of Anderson’s family.
An ex-employee also claimed Anderson purchased cars using Depher money and “just drove them around”.
Anderson said that the house was purchased using profits from the paid work – and defended the purchase of “company cars”.
It’s understood the East Lancashire plumber is now under investigation by the Fundraising Regulator.
Investigations by two other bodies, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the CIC (Community Interest Company) Regulator have both been concluded, Anderson says.
Anderson insists that while “mistakes were made”, they were genuine and not in any way an attempt to personally benefit from or mislead donors.
He said: “I set this up purely to help people; not to have people jumping through hoops.”
The ICO is understood to have been investigating data protection issues.
Anderson said: “The CIC Regulator asked me to change a few things, which we did, and they’re happy with that… The Information Commissioner asked us to remove a few posts on social media, due to data protection, and we have done that.
“I have been working with the Fundraising Regulator and we have sent over what they asked for and they said they will work with us if anything needs changing. The BBC seem hell-bent on this witch hunt and making a mountain out of a molehill.
“In the last seven years we’ve paid £202,000 to HMRC and we have to pay £170,000 in wages. Yes, we have made some mistakes, but not because of corruption, because of naivety.”
Regarding the property alleged to have been bought with charitable donations, Anderson said: “[It’s inhabitant] Glen is my wife’s ex-step-father. He was divorced from her mum 20 years ago but he’s still close to my wife.
“His son Clint works for us. The property was bought to provide a regular income and we explained to the CIC Regulator that we picked them as tenants because it was guaranteed rent and the property would be looked after.”
His company’s social media pages have now been deleted.
The Sun has approached Depher and Mr Anderson for comment.
