By Lynne Stewart

A CONMAN who defrauded a breast cancer charity of £450,000, which was earmarked for research at Dundee University, was yesterday jailed for 18 months at the High Court in Glasgow.

Tony Freeman (40) previously admitted removing the money from his company, which raised cash for cancer charities, just days before it went bust three years ago.

At the High Court the disgraced businessman’s lawyer revealed his client had paid back the money he took, although he still owes nearly £620,000 to creditors.

After sentencing, a smiling Freeman waved and blew a kiss to his girlfriend in the public gallery as he was led from the dock.

Breast Cancer Research (Scotland) was set up by Anne McGill, a single parent who ran a hugely successful fund-raising campaign from the front room of her council house in Ayrshire after the death of a close friend from breast cancer.

Most of the money raised by the charity went to research into breast cancer carried out by scientists at Dundee University. Anne became a regular visitor to Dundee, handing over massive cheques to researchers.

Problems arose after she was persuaded to put the charity on a more “professional” footing, and Freeman’s company was brought in to run fund-raising. The charity was closed down amid concerns only a small proportion of the funds collected went to good causes.

At an earlier court appearance it was heard that Freeman, of Glasgow, had told staff at Solutions Recruitment and Management Consultancy the cash was to pay for computer software, but the money transfer on May 30, 2003, ended up in a bank account in Cyprus—and 84 staff at his Paisley firm lost their jobs.

In September a judge ordered Freeman to hand over £210,000 and his lawyer, Peter Gray QC, told the High Court in Glasgow earlier this month his client had paid the sum.

The charity originally pledged £5 million to researchers at Dundee before its accounts were suspended during an investigation three years ago when it emerged only £1.5m of the £13m the charity had raised actually went to good causes.

Breast Cancer Research (Scotland) had its assets frozen three years ago after an investigation by the Scottish Charities Office. Before its accounts were suspended the charity donated £500,000 to Dundee University—one tenth of the £5m originally pledged.

In June Lord Glennie ruled at the Court of Session that £1.5m of the remaining £2m in the charity’s account could be paid to Dundee University.

From the investigation into the charity it emerged that rather than going to research breast cancer, £5m had gone to commercial fund-raiser Solutions RMC, run by Freeman, who was also a director of Breast Cancer Research (Scotland).

Freeman, Ms McGill and fellow trustee of Breast Cancer Research (Scotland) Anthony Levinson were all banned from management positions with any UK charities in the aftermath of the scandal.

The investigation eventually led to the creation of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, which is based in Dundee.