A warrant has been issued on behalf of the Royal British Legion (RBL) for the arrest of a former volunteer poppy appeal organiser who is accused of stealing a ‘large number” of collection tins.

The warrant has been issued for Sean Pullen by Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates Court in relation to the allegations of theft and fraud by abuse of his position as a RBL volunteer between 2017 and 2019.

Pullen had been a poppy appeal officer but resigned in 2019 claiming to be busy with other commitments.

It was discovered in the same year that Pullen had not delivered a number of collection tins to the charity, although he had claimed to have done so.

Efforts by the Royal British Legion to meet Pullen failed. In June of 2019 the chair of the RBL’s Liverpool branch visited the house where Pullen was recorded as living.

However, she was told by Pullen’s former landlord that he had “left the property in a state and owning £10,000 in rent”, according to the prosecuting lawyer in the case.

It is thought Pullen was also using aliases including Sean Faversham and Alexander Hamilton Forbes, according to post left at his former property.

But “he has not been seen since” said prosecuting lawyer James Rae.

No figure is being given by the charity’s legal team of the sum he is accused of stealing from the RBL, although a Pembrokeshire newspaper report from 2020 estimates the figure could be around £42,000.

The newspaper also claimed that one of Pullen's associates had “bizarrely” claimed that the former RBL volunteer “is on a special assignment for MI5” and was last seen in Ireland.

In May this year a firm of private investigators was engaged to locate Pullen, however these attempts were unsuccessful.

The warrant for this arrest from lawyers Edmonds Marshall McMahon states that “if anyone knows of his whereabouts, where he is living or working, or has any information that may help us locate him, we would be very glad to hear from you. Please contact Pressoffice.EMM@jbp.co.uk”.

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