A Newton Abbot businessman who is on trial for organising bogus charity collections has denied deceiving shoppers who gave money to his team of street collectors.

Jamie Monteiro told Exeter Crown Court he tried to provide work for unemployed and homeless young people by selling leaflets to shoppers in towns all over Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.

He denied making false claims about links to charities or conning anyone into giving money to his Youth Recruit company.

He said his activity was lawful because his employees were selling periodicals that he produced rather than simply collecting money.

Monteiro, who ran his business from Newton Abbot in 2014 and 2015, said he never claimed to be collecting for charity and that donors were always told that Youth Recruit was a not-for-profit company.

He said £37,000 that passed through his bank accounts had been used to cover the costs of running the operation and was not personal profit.

Monteiro, aged 27, of Oaklands Road, denies five counts of fraud at Exeter Crown Court.

The prosecution say Monteiro conned shoppers by sending out young men to collect cash for bogus good causes with names including ’Kids at Christmas’ and ’Save a Heart’.

His Newton Abbot based-company Youth Recruit was in fact giving half to the collectors and keeping the rest for itself.

The Crown says he used a series of ploys to try to get round laws which control street collection and charity donations and his operation was ‘a con and a scam’

Monteiro, who is representing himself, said he set up Youth Recruit Ltd to help homeless and unemployed young people by giving they a route into work.

His idea was for a Big Issue type operation in which they would sell a series of one-page pamphlets which he produced. He said the sellers’ buckets were street tills and were clearly marked as being from Youth Recruit.

He said charities including Shelter were mentioned in the pamphlets but he had never claimed to be collecting money for them and always made clear in his literature that donations were going to Youth Recruit.

He said he had not broken any laws on street trading because his team were selling periodicals rather than merely collecting money.

He also denied running bogus lotteries. He said cash paid by the public was for a pamphlet rather than a ticket and those who bought them were given the opportunity to enter the competition online.

He said: ‘I did not falsely represent that Youth Recruit ltd was a charity at any time. I always made it clear Youth Recruit was selling periodicals to provide opportunities for young people.

‘All the equipment I bought showed the name of Youth Recruit and made it clear it was a limited company and was not a charity.’