Woman who stole from friend’s cancer charity to repay cash
central scotland news agencyA woman who stole £86,000 from a charity set up in memory of her best friend’s daughter has been given three months to repay the money.
Lindsay MacCallum, 61, co-founded the Rainbow Valley charity with former friend Angela MacVicar and defrauded it over a decade.
She also embezzled £9,505 from the Anthony Nolan Trust, a stem cell donation charity.
McCallum, who was jailed for three years in October, has already repaid £25,000 she stole from a former friend.
Mrs McVicar said outside court she was delighted the settlement had been reached, adding: “The court has done us justice.”
There are concerns that if the criminal confiscation order is approved, the remaining funds McCallum is due to repay will go to the Treasury.
Falkirk Magistrates’ Court heard it had been agreed with McCallum’s lawyers that confiscation proceedings should be suspended to allow her to repay the remaining outstanding funds – £60,000 to Rainbow Valley and £60,000 to Anthony Noe – by March. The Trust repaid £9,505.
Lawyer Sarah Loosemore said while McCallum did not appear in court, he had committed to do so and would only need three months to clear the funds.
“The best thing about this money is going back into charity,” she said.
Mr Rashid said if the money was repaid before March 2025, police court proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act would be withdrawn.
The court previously heard that McCullum, from Aberfoyle, Perthshire, forged the signatures of charity staff and diverted cash from fundraising accounts for his own use between 2011 and 2021.
A sergeant told her she had “systematically and deliberately” perpetrated a “calculated” fraud on third sector organizations and “betrayed” cancer victims.
McCullum worked as a fundraising manager at the Anthony Nolan Trust from 1995 to 2012 before setting up Rainbow Valley with Mrs McVicar.
The foundation was established in memory of Mrs MacVicar’s 27-year-old daughter Johanna, who died of leukemia in 2005.
The two worked together for 10 years before parting ways in 2022.
Mrs McVicar then discovered discrepancies in the accounts set up for the fundraising ball.
McCallum took a total of £85,978 from Rainbow Valley.
The court heard MacCallum was appointed project development manager for Rainbow Valley and was given a charity credit card in 2014 in lieu of using a Friends of Rainbow Valley bank account.
But the account was still in use, and it was not until August 2022 that questions were raised about transactions on the account following an argument between friends.
McCullum, a former Royal Navy servicewoman, admitted two charges of fraud totaling £95,483.
Additional reporting by Central Scotland News Service
