The New York Attorney General has shut down the National Children's Leukemia Foundation, after an investigation revealed the crooked founder had been pocketing nearly $1million a year while only spending 1 per cent of donations to help children struggling with cancer

National Children's Leukemia Foundation founder Zvi 'Steve' Shor has been running the charity out of his basement in Brooklyn, New York, masquerading the non-profit as a large organization in order to solicit some $13million in donations since 2009, according to court papers filed Monday by the attorney general.

While the foundation claims to operate a bone marrow registry and fulfill the dying wishes of terminally ill children, authorities claim the charity has only put 1 per cent of its donations towards charitable causes while Shor has pocketed up to $1million for himself and his family, nothing is more shameful than pocketing millions of dollars donated by good-hearted people who just wanted to help children afflicted with a terminal illness,' New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in the statement, after successfully winning a court order to shut the sham organization down. 

Shor started the charity in 1991, following the death of his son from leukemia. 

He then continued to run the charity from his basement, raising $13million between April 2009 and March 2013. 

According to court papers, $7.5million of that money was paid to fundraising companies who organized events for the charity. During this period, Shor was also paying himself a $600,000 salary while sending an additional $655,000 to a 'shell organization in Israel' run by his sister 'allegedly for research purposes'. 

The organization has also been accused of faking audit reports, when no audits were conducted. 

Shor ran the organization as president until 2010, when he was replaced by accountant and auditor Yehuda Gutwein when it was revealed that Shor had been convicted of bank fraud in 1999. 

In addition to Shor, the other charity organizations named in the suit include Gutwein, Shor's son Shlomo Shor and Shlomo Donn. Shor has fiercely denied the allegations that he was running a scam foundation in a statement to ABC news  

'Our small organization helped many families over the past 20 years. I launched NCLF after the death of my teenage son to leukemia. I personally took no salary for over eight years. I wanted to help as many families as I could who had children suffering from cancer.

'We feel we are being used as an "example" due to the telemarketing fundraising laws and fundraising market over which we have no control. Our fundraising contracts were all filed with the attorney general who has long known their terms. We expect to be vindicated in court when the full story is explained,' Shor said.

Picking through a mountain of huge rocks with his tiny bare hands, the exhausted little boy makes a pitiful sight.

His name is Dorsen and he is one of an army of children, some just four years old, working in the vast polluted mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where toxic red dust burns their eyes, and they run the risk of skin disease and a deadly lung condition. Here, for a wage of just 8p a day, the children are made to check the rocks for the tell-tale chocolate-brown streaks of cobalt – the prized ingredient essential for the batteries that power electric cars.

And it’s feared that thousands more children could be about to be dragged into this hellish daily existence – after the historic pledge made by Britain to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2040 and switch to electric vehicles. It heralds a future of clean energy, free from pollution but – though there can be no doubting the good intentions behind Environment Secretary Michael Gove’s announcement last month – such ideals mean nothing for the children condemned to a life of hellish misery in the race to achieve his target.

Dorsen, just eight, is one of 40,000 children working daily in the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The terrible price they will pay for our clean air is ruined health and a likely early death.

Almost every big motor manufacturer striving to produce millions of electric vehicles buys its cobalt from the impoverished central African state. It is the world’s biggest producer, with 60 per cent of the planet’s reserves.

The cobalt is mined by unregulated labour and transported to Asia where battery manufacturers use it to make their products lighter, longer-lasting and rechargeable. The planned switch to clean energy vehicles has led to an extraordinary surge in demand. While a smartphone battery uses no more than 10 grams of refined cobalt, an electric car needs 15kg (33lb). Goldman Sachs, the merchant bank, calls cobalt ‘the new gasoline’ but there are no signs of new wealth in the DRC, where the children haul the rocks brought up from tunnels dug by hand.

Adult miners dig up to 600ft below the surface using basic tools, without protective clothing or modern machinery. Sometimes the children are sent down into the narrow makeshift chambers where there is constant danger of collapse.

Cobalt is such a health hazard that it has a respiratory disease named after it – cobalt lung, a form of pneumonia which causes coughing and leads to permanent incapacity and even death.

Even simply eating vegetables grown in local soil can cause vomiting and diarrhoea, thyroid damage and fatal lung diseases, while birds and fish cannot survive in the area.

No one knows quite how many children have died mining cobalt in the Katanga region in the south-east of the country. The UN estimates 80 a year, but many more deaths go unregistered, with the bodies buried in the rubble of collapsed tunnels. Others survive but with chronic diseases which destroy their young lives. Girls as young as ten in the mines are subjected to sexual attacks and many become pregnant. When Sky News investigated the Katanga mines it found Dorsen, working near a little girl called Monica, who was four, on a day of relentless rainfall.

Dorsen was hauling heavy sacks of rocks from the mine surface to a growing stack 60ft away. A full sack was lifted on to Dorsen’s head and he staggered across to the stack. A brutish overseer stood over him, shouting and raising his hand to threaten a beating if he spilt any.

With his mother dead, Dorsen lives with his father in the bush and the two have to work daily in the cobalt mine to earn money for food.

Dorsen’s friend Richard, 11, said that at the end of a working day ‘everything hurts’.

The daughter of murdered Lord Mountbatten used the teachings of Gandhi to forgive her father’s IRA killers.

Lady Pamela Hicks, 88, met Gandhi when her father was serving as India’s last viceroy.

Lord Mountbatten was killed while on a wooden fishing boat in 1979 along with young boys and the dowager Lady Brabourne.

Irish republican Thomas McMahon was convicted for the killings after he slipped onto the unguarded boat at night to attach a 23kg bomb.

Asked if she had forgiven the IRA, Lady Pamela said ‘yes, that is essential’.

She told the BBC: ‘I mean, we loved the Irish. We’d lived there for so much of our lives. You absolutely have to go forward. Lady Pamela was a lady in waiting for the Queen as well as a bridesmaid at her wedding to Prince Philip.

Recalling identifying her father’s body when he died aged 79, she said: ‘I honestly thought “I am not going to be able to do this”, which is ridiculous because in fact every next of kin has to identify a murdered family member.

‘But I found that a horrible idea. Luckily James (Duke of) Abercorn arrived at that moment and I said “James, I can’t do this. Will you identify him?” I felt slightly wimpish doing it.’

The bomb killed Lord Mountbatten, his grandson Nicholas Knatchbull, 14, a young crew member Paul Maxwell, 15, and the dowager Lady Brabourne, 83.

Also on board was his eldest daughter Patricia, her husband John and their other son Timothy Knatchbull.

The IRA claimed responsibility for the killings. 

A 34-year-old man was killed in a drive-by shooting last night 'by a person known to him' police have said as they launched a murder probe. 

John Pordage, an electrician and bodybuilder with a 'heart of gold' died after a driver in a blue Ford Fiesta pulled into a BP garage in Chelmsford, Essex and fired a single shot at 2.10am this morning.

Mr Pordage, who was standing with his friend, was struck in the chest and was rushed to hospital where he died. Close friend Reece Haines, 33, said: 'John and I went to school with one another and have been the best of friends since.

'John was a joker, a real character, someone that would do anything for his friends and family, he had a heart of gold, he couldn't do enough for you, he was not only a gentleman but a loyal friend and family man.

'He was a hard worker and an extremely strong bodybuilder he had a passion for fitness and also loved to draw. 'He will be sadly missed but never ever forgotten, anyone that met John would know what a positive impact he'd have on your life, and it's hard to believe that my best friend is gone.

'It will be a massive funeral, he was extremely well liked and no one can understand why this has happened.'

He added in a direct message to John: 'Rest in peace my brother and I know you'll have everyone up there in hysterics just like you did down here.

'Make sure you have a JD and coke waiting for me mate, can't wait to see you again, all my love Reece x' The senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings, of the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, said: 'Several members of the public went to the aid of the victim and his friend, and I want to thank them for their assistance in what clearly would have been harrowing circumstances.

'We have spoken to a number of witnesses but I am keen to speak to anyone who saw what happened and has yet to come forward. Any information you have, however small you think it may be, could be vital in assisting our investigation.

'I also want to speak to anyone who saw a car matching the description of the suspect vehicle in the area before and after the incident and anyone who took mobile phone or dash cam footage of the incident.'

District commander Chief Inspector Ronnie Egan said: 'Incidents such as this are extremely rare and we believe this involved people known to each other.

'Although we believe there is no wider risk to the community, I know residents will be very concerned.'

Patrols in the area had been increased, he said.  

Two teenage boys are being hunted by police after a woman was left with head and hand injuries in an attack in Legoland, Windsor. 

Police said that the two boys, both aged about 14 years, were believed to have been involved in the attack which left the woman with head and hand injuries on Friday afternoon. 

She was taken to hospital for treatment. Detectives said that the incident happened on Friday afternoon while the woman, aged in her late 50s, was in the Heartlake Shopping Mall at the Legoland Resort in Windsor, Berks.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said that officers were seeking help from the public who may have been at Legoland yesterday and may have seen something suspicious.

'Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following an assault of a woman at Legoland Windsor,' said the spokesman.

'At around 4.30pm on Friday a woman in her late 50s was at the Heartlake Mall at Legoland when she was assaulted, leaving with her injuries to her head and hands.

'She was taken to hospital for treatment and has since been discharged. We are appealing for any witnesses who may have seen the attack and in particular information about two teenage boys who were involved. 'The boys are described as white and around 14 years old. We are following a number of lines of inquiry and would ask anyone who might have witnessed this assault to please contact us at Thames Valley Police.'

The Heartlake Shopping Mall stocks Lego materials and also caters for what its website describes as 'all the essentials you need for your day such as ponchos, umbrellas, sun cream and batteries.

Police are investigating reports that a chef was doused in acid in a horrific attack at a seaside fish and chip shop this morning.

Officers rushed to the restaurant in Whitstable, Kent just after 9am. Pictures show police investigating at the scene after the victim was rushed to hospital. 

A spokesperson for Kent Police said: 'Police were called to a report that a man was assaulted at a premises off the Thanet Way in Whitstable at 8.49am this morning. 'It was reported that a substance was thrown at him.

'A man has been taken to hospital. So far no arrests have been made but we have started to make enquiries.'

'It is believed the alleged victim is a chef at the fish and chip venue.'

In a new crackdown announced yesterday, thugs carrying acid face four years in jail while those who throw it could get life behind bars. The Crown Prosecution Service has today unveiled plans to charge offenders caught with dangerous materials with possession of an offensive weapon, which carries a four-year prison term.

A spokesman told MailOnline they hoped it would act as a deterrent after the Government and CPS noticed a worrying trend in attacks.

He said: 'From our side there is certainly a trend of these attacks becoming more prevalent and hopefully by publishing this information it is a useful exercise in show how the Crown will be dealing with offenders.'

This means judges and magistrates will be able to deliver tougher sentences when attackers end up in court.  

The retired judge leading the Grenfell Tower inquiry must be helped by local residents so he can 'understand our experience of life', the area's bishop has said. 

The Bishop of Kensington, the Rt Rev Dr Graham Tomlin said having local people at the heart of the inquiry would aid Sir Martin Moore-Bick in appreciating the 'dynamics' of the area. 

At least 80 people died when a blaze devastated the 24-storey West London block in June, while hundreds more were left destitute.

The bishop said there were concerns that retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Martin would not understand the 'experience of life' on the Grenfell estate. 

Bishop Tomlin said: 'I want to see local people at the heart of the inquiry - not just on the outside but on the inside of it. The bishop said he hoped Sir Martin's inquiry would provide 'significant answers' within a year and would go further than just address the events of the fire to also examine 'a wider range of issues - the decisions that were made by the council, by the tenant management organisation leading up to that night'.

He told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that if Sir Martin's inquiry did not have the confidence of local people, any recommendations it made were unlikely to win support.

The bishop said: 'People locally would want to see, at the heart of the inquiry, other people who understand our experience of life. 'I'm not saying that he won't understand that, but I think that it's harder if you haven't got people around you who actually do understand that, which is why I'm suggesting that he will be helped in his work - his very important work - by having close involvement with people who do represent the local community.'

Some in the community were still 'very angry' about what happened and the response, he said.

Bishop Tomlin added: 'I feel a lot of frustration on behalf of many people, because I feel that there is a lot of people who are still struggling, still trying to work out answers.

'I have seen extraordinary dignity and wisdom and restraint from many people, others are very angry.

'There's a mixture of emotions which is why we need to continue to apply every bit of imagination and effort to that job.'

More than 400 submissions were made to a consultation on the scope of Sir Martin's inquiry which closed on Friday.

Survivors, bereaved families and other involved parties have spent the past few weeks making their case about what the remit of the forthcoming probe should be.

Sir Martin is now tasked with writing to the Prime Minister with recommendations for the inquiry's terms of reference.

It is understood he may use his correspondence to recommend the Government consider broader questions about social housing separately.

It will then be up to Theresa May to decide what questions the inquiry should seek to answer, which she is expected to do thereafter.