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Depher Community Plumbing and Heating CIC, founded

The firm posted on social media about fitting free boilers for elderly and vulnerable people in Burnley, making Mr Anderson a viral sensation at the height of the UK's cost-of-living crisis.

The posts brought in at least £2m in donations, but a

The Fundraising Regulator has now confirmed it investigated 13 possible breaches of its code.

Gerald Oppenheim, chief executive of the regulator, told the

The breaches included how images of vulnerable people were used to encourage donations without context, which the regulator deemed to be "misleading".

Some of the firm's posts also referenced how subjects had felt suicidal. The regulator said the mention of death or suicide alongside fundraising was "controversial" and not enough care had been taken over the treatment of case studies.

It found the number of fundraising appeal pages issued

Depher was a CIC - or Community Interest Company - which is a special type of UK limited company that exists to benefit the community rather than for private profit.

"While we took account of the fact that Depher was a small CIC that experienced rapid growth after media exposure, it is nonetheless clear that it made serious errors in its fundraising activities," Mr Oppenheim added.

In May last year, a special report from

The investigation revealed a pattern of lies and allegations of exploitation, including:

The

Last year, Mr Anderson denied some of the

The daughter of an elderly woman, who featured in multiple false posts on a Depher social media account detailing how Mr Anderson prevented her from taking her on life, told the

The

Her daughter Andrea has now called on the police and other bodies to fully investigate the firm. "My mother loved her life and it is utterly despicable that someone could use death and suicide in such a way. It breaks my heart."

She added: "I wish the police and other bodies would have taken it more seriously because James Anderson needs to be brought to account."

At the time of the original

The plumber's rise to fame saw him receive letters of thanks from the late Queen and the King, and a Pride of Manchester award. He has been a guest on Good Morning Britain,

Celebrities such as the singer Lily Allen, Emmerdale actress Samantha Giles and actor Hugh Grant - who gave £75,000 - were among the donors to his company.

After the

Thousands of members of the public also donated money to him, many using appeals on GoFundMe, JustGiving and Crowdfunder.

A GoFundMe spokesperson said: "We welcome the Fundraising Regulator's thorough investigation. Last year, we honoured refund requests under the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee. We always cooperate fully with regulatory inquiries and will take the strongest possible action against any misuse."

The Office of the CIC Regulator told the

"Any complaints regarding CICs are taken seriously and if a breach in CIC legislation is identified, then appropriate regulatory action will be considered."

Depher Community Plumbing and Heating CIC no longer trades under that name and is under new leadership as Community Elderly and Disabled Support CIC.

The