A former finance worker at Breast Cancer Now diverted just under £92,000 of charity money into his personal account and them spent it on jewellery, travel and addressing his personal debt.

Tameem Choudhury, aged 29, of Gujarat House, Stoke Newington Church Street, London, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison at a Royal Courts of Justice hearing after pleading guilty to fraud and money laundering offences.

According to City of London Police, which investigated the case, Choudhury “exploited his position within the charity's finance team to intercept a refund payment worth £91,966.72 that should have been returned to Breast Cancer Now”.

He used his work email account to send altered payment instructions to The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation, a grantee of the charity that was returning the money.

After the money was paid into Choudhury’s personal account he “embarked on a appending spree” using the stolen money to pay off personal debts, make cash withdrawals, fund wedding and honeymoon expenses, purchase luxury items, including a £14,000 Alexander Brown ring, and to transfer money to family members”, said officers.

During two days in September alone he spent just over £49,000 of the stolen money.

A Breast Cancer Now spokesperson said: “We take this matter extremely seriously and have fully cooperated with the police at every stage.

“We have conducted a thorough review of internal processes to best mitigate against a situation like this happening again.

“People affected by breast cancer are at the heart of all we do. Through life-saving research, life-changing support and change-making campaigns we’re changing the future of breast cancer, and we’re committed to upholding the highest standards to ensure all funds so generously donated to the charity help those affected by this devastating disease, as intended.

“Funds have been recovered and the charity has not experienced any financial loss.”

“We will continue to work with victims, financial institutions and partners to identify offenders, recover stolen funds where possible, and bring those responsible before the courts.”

Detective Constable Yusuf Meerza, from the City of London Police’s fraud operations team, added: “Choudhury abused a position of trust within a charity dedicated to funding life-saving breast cancer research.

"The generosity of donors enables charities such as Breast Cancer Now to support vital research and provide help to those affected by breast cancer. s

“Choudhury's actions betrayed that trust and placed charitable funds at risk for his own personal gain.

"This case demonstrates that fraud can be committed from within an organisation by individuals entrusted to safeguard its finances.

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