Charity Chief Given Week To Repay Cash

A charity chief was yesterday given seven more days to repay hundreds of thousands of pounds owed to creditors but was told he still faced a jail sentence. The High Court in Glasgow heard that Tony Freeman, former head of Paisley-based Solutions Recruitment and Management Consultancy, had already handed over £210,000 a judge ordered him to repay.

Yesterday Lord Kinclaven was asked by Freeman’s QC, Peter Gray, to give him a one-week extension so he could try to find the £362,000 he still owes to preferred and non-preferred creditors.

Mr Gray said: “The accused is anxious to make amends in full if that is possible and it may well be possible that further repayment will be made. It is not only important for my client but for the benefit of those who have suffered from the accused’s conduct.”

Lord Kinclaven gave Freeman, who has a £1m home in Cyprus, a week to show payments have been made or concrete proposals put forward. He warned Freeman that he would still face a jail sentence.

Last month Freeman, of Newlands, Glasgow, admitted fraudulently removing more than £450,000 from his business just before the company went into liquidation.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how he pretended that it owed the money for a computer software deal. Instead the cash ended up in an account in Cyprus, 84 staff lost their jobs and creditors – which were owed thousands of pounds – lost their money.

Solutions RMC was launched in December 2000 and until the middle of 2003 Freeman, 40, was paying himself £190,000 a year to run the fund-raising company. But his activities came under the scrutiny of the Scottish Charities Office and charity commissioners south of the Border.

They found that Freeman’s two clients, Paisley-based Breast Cancer Research (Scotland) and its sister organisation Breast Cancer Relief, based in Manchester, had paid millions for his services.

The charities’ bank accounts were frozen and a judge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh ordered that Freeman and three other trustees should play no further part in running them.

The investigation uncovered an £11.5m hole. More than £13m had been donated but only £1.5m was passed on to good causes. Freeman was supposed to have collected £8m of the £11.5m in commission for his role as fundraiser.

The case was adjourned till November 7.

Freeman’s attempt to repay the money was yesterday given a cautious welcome by a new self-regulatory body for fundraising in Scotland.

Speaking at the launch of the Fundraising Standards Board (FSB), Kate Higgins, manager of the organisation north of the border, said: “While we welcome the fact money has been paid back, we would hope this does not impact on the severity with which the justice system views Tony Freeman’s crime.”

Ms Higgins added: “The case has taught charities not to take for granted the public’s confidence. This has to be earned and can be damaged very easily and very quickly.”

While admitting there had been a “short-term hit” to charity-giving when the case first hit the headlines, she said there appeared to be no long-term damage. Citing research that shows three million donors give regularly to charity in Scotland, which was also the most generous area of the UK, outside London, she added: “It’s important we look after our donors and the FSB will help charities do this.”

The new body, which yesterday launched a recruitment drive at the Institute of Fundraising Scotland Conference in Glasgow, is designed to ensure common standards among fundraisers and furnish them with a “stamp of approval” and logo.

Membership of the FSB can only serve to enhance the work and reputation of legitimate charities, said Ms Higgins.