PC: The Sun
Both former signatories later told police that they had not signed the documents. They also identified the handwriting on the cheques as MacCallum’s, helping establish how the payments had been made.
The amounts involved exceeded £95,000, taken over a period spanning roughly a decade. Between July 2011 and September 2016, eight cheques were issued without proper authorisation. Together, they amounted to £9,505. Between 2013 and 2021, MacCallum paid substantial sums into several bank accounts connected to her family. Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service reported that two personal accounts held by MacCallum received a combined £48,027. A further £5,045 went into a joint bank account she shared with her husband, while £1,670 was deposited into accounts belonging to her adult children. The court heard that £21,056 had been spent on a credit card, while another £4,210 went towards purchases from Next.
For years, Lindsay MacCallum held positions that gave her access to money raised for people affected by cancer. She worked with two charitable organisations in Scotland, handling fundraising and financial arrangements, while donations were intended to support their respective causes. But an investigation into missing funds eventually uncovered unauthorised payments, forged signatures and money transferred into accounts belonging to her and members of her family. MacCallum, a former charity manager from Aberfoyle in Stirlingshire, was eventually brought before Falkirk Sheriff Court, where she admitted her involvement in the fraudulent activity and received a three-year prison sentence. The court heard that she continued withdrawing money by using signatures that did not belong to the former office-bearers. Details presented in court showed that the money did not simply disappear through a single transaction. Other spending was traced through her credit card and retail purchases.
As reported by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the investigation established that £85,978.48 had been fraudulently obtained from Friends of Rainbow Valley. Combined with the £9,505 taken from the Anthony Nolan fundraising account, the total came to £95,483.48.