Woman whose best friend stole £85,000 from charity says 'she never truly loved my daughter'

A woman whose best friend stole more than £85,000 from a charity set up in memory of her late daughter says she believes her former friend ‘never truly loved them’.

Lindsay MacCallum was told that her actions had brought “devastation” to those who trusted her during sentencing at Falkirk Sheriff Court earlier this month.

The Rainbow Valley foundation was jointly set up by MacCallum and Angela MacVicar in 2012 who lost her daughter Johanna to leukaemia in 2005 aged 27.

Johanna was 16 when she was diagnosed. Her mum said gathering research, identifying options and seeking out the genuine people, therapies and support was a daunting task.

Lindsay MacCallum, left, stole from the charity set up in memory of Angela MacVicar's daughter — Lindsay MacCallum, left, stole from the charity set up in memory of Angela MacVicar’s daughter Supplied

The court heard MacCallum had systematically and deliberately defrauded the charity, as well as almost £10,000 from stem cell charity Anthony Nolan, and had betrayed those who were terminally ill and their families.

The 61-year-old arranged for donations to be routed through a bank account she had access to in her official capacity.

She would then transfer the money to her personal bank accounts or use it to pay for her own expenses.

Ten years later, MacCallum, from Aberfoyle, was charged with forming a fraudulent scheme to appropriate funds being donated to Rainbow Valley.

MacVicar said she believes MacCallum – whom she had been best friends with for over two decades – never truly loved her late daughter.

She told Good Morning Britain: “I fought against it. I thought it can’t be. I was in denial (that money was being stolen).

“I questioned everything – did she ever really love Johanna? Did she see us as a means to an end?

“I do not want to allow that to make me not trust other people.”

Lindsay MacCallum, right, stole from the charity set up in memory of Angela MacVicar's daughter — Lindsay MacCallum, right, stole from the charity set up in memory of Angela MacVicar’s daughter Supplied

After confronting MacCallum about the transactions, MacVicar said: “Eventually she said ‘I didn’t do it for me, I did it for my daughter’.

“She knew that would stab me in the heart because I love her children, her family. But it was all lies.”

No explanation was offered for the fraud, MacCallum was not in debt and her lawyer told the court she struggled to articulate and explain her behaviour.

The court heard she obtained £85,978 between February 2013 and November 2021.

MacCallum was also charged with forming a fraudulent scheme to appropriate funds being donated to the Anthony Nolan Trust between July 2011 and September 2016.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard she obtained £9,505 in her official capacity with the stem cell charity as a result after forging signatures of office holders on cheques.

MacCallum told the court she intends to pay all the money back.

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