Fraudster repays £86,000 stolen from friend’s cancer charity
BBC Scotland News
Angela MacvicarA woman who stole £86,000 from a cancer charity that honors her best friend’s daughter has paid back the money.
Lindsay MacCallum and Angela Macvicar initiated the Rainbow Valley. She also embezzled £9,505 from her former employer, Anthony Nolan Trust.
Falkirk Sheriff’s Court heard McCallum had fully repaid the two charities by the payment deadline.
The fraudster who did not appear in court was sentenced to three years in prison last October.
After the hearing, Ms. McVicar told BBC Scotland News: “She has allowed me to go through hell for three years.
“No one believed she had the ability.
“I miss the person I thought she was, but she never did.
“It’s time to move on and look for positive things and people we can actually help.”
MacCallum, in Aberfoyle near Stirling, served as fundraising manager for the Anthony Nolan Trust from 1995 to 2012, before leaving Ms. Macvicar and leaving Rainbow Valley.
The foundation was founded in memory of her daughter Johanna, who died of leukemia in 2005.
The court had previously heard that Maccallum had repaid the £25,000 stolen.
Ms Macvicar is concerned that if a criminal confiscation order is approved, the remaining cash will be transferred to the Treasury Department.
But instead it is an indemnity order, so any funds will be returned to the charity.
On Wednesday, the remaining outstanding funds were confirmed – Rainbow Valley £60,000 and Anthony Nolan Trust was £9,505.
The court previously heard that Maccallum had obtained a charity credit card in 2014 to replace friends with a Rainbow Valley Bank account.
But the account is still in use until after a row between friends was made in August 2022, the account’s transactions raised questions.
MacCallum, a former Royal Navy service woman, pleaded guilty to two fraud charges, totaling £95,483.
Last year, the court heard that she forged the signature of the charity and reraised cash from the fundraising account between 2011 and 2021.
A sheriff told McCallum that she “systemically” intentionally” made a “calculation” of fraud organized by the third department.
Sheriff Maryam Labaki added that she “betrayed” the cancer victim.
