Institute of Fundraising Scotland comments on Tony Freeman case
Howard Lake | 14 October 2006 | News
The Chair of the Institute of Fundarising Scotland has commented on the court case of Tony Freeman, who has admitted fraudulently removing more than £450,000 from his fundraising business before it went into liquidation.
Freeman’s company, Solutions Recruitment and Management Consultancy, went into liquidation in 2003 after an investigation had found that more than £13 million had been donated through his company’s fundraising activities but only £1.5 million had been passed on to good causes.
He has pleaded guilty to a breach of the 1986 Insolvency Act, with the result that an anticipated five-week trial, due to begin this month, has not gone ahead.
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Maureen Harrison, Chair of the Institute of Fundraising Scotland, said: “Everyone in the Institute and the sector as a whole will be happy and relieved that we finally have closure on this matter.
“The abhorrent actions of this individual did inflict short-time damage on the sector but it did not take long for charities, fundraisers and donors to rally round and bring donations back to the traditionally high levels here in Scotland. If we want to look for a positive aspect of this case it is that it went some way to speeding up the passage of the Charities Act and we are just now settling into a system where we have a new charity regulator, the self-regulation of fundraising, and a far safer environment in which donors can give.
“The great challenge now is for everyone involved in fundraising to make this system work, and when it does, I’ve no doubt everyone will see the rewards.”
A full statement will be made following Mr Freeman’s sentencing on 31 October.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.