The $30 million charity that fooled the stars

Megan Bhari's Believe in Magic charity, founded in 2011, received backing from music stars including One Direction, Taylor Swift, Michael Bublé, and Ed Sheeran.. The charity was meant to help children suffering from severe or terminal illnesses, but it was all a massive fraud.

The charity received millions of pounds in donations, with One Direction and its fans raising millions over the following months. Anne Twist, the mother of Harry Styles from the band, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2012 to help the charity, and One Direction helped Megan raise £120,000 for radon therapy in 2015.

However, parents of ill youngsters began investigating the charity after raising concerns over Megan's accounts of her illness, which were vague and lacked detail in fundraising appeals. They discovered Megan had been repeatedly travelling to the US on cruise liners and staying at Disney World, even taking a private jet after being late for one liner's departure.

An echo of Sydney's 2024 instittutional buy-up

The Charity Commission regulator opened an investigation into the organisation and froze its bank accounts in 2017. Cash withdrawals totalling £133,000 were found to have been made in the year to November 2015 and another £156,000 the next year.

Nina, Megan's half-sister,has spoken about the astonishing fraud in a new BBC documentary 'The Mother of All Cons' which continues on BBC Two this Sunday. Nina said: 'I'm not saying Meg's an innocent child. She was 23 years old, she was a fully grown adult.'

Who is the unnamed buyer?

The article quickly received support from One Direction, with the band and its fans raising millions of pounds over the following months towards funding treatment abroad. However, parents of other seriously ill children began investigating the charity after raising concerns over Megan's accounts of her illness, which were vague and lacked detail in fundraising appeals.

Nina also referred to an article in the Times newspaper on September 19, 2020, headlined: 'Girl faked brain tumour to dupe stars out of cash and live high life.'

What auditors flagged in the May filing

Cash withdrawals totalling £133 ,000 were found to have been made in the year to November 2015 and another £156,000 the next year. The Charity Commission regulator opened an investigation into the organisation and froze its bank accounts in 2017.

Nina, Megan's half-sister,has spoken about the astonishing fraud in a new BBC documentary 'The Mother of All Cons' which continues on BBC Two this Sunday.