Former charity finance employee sentenced for stealing nearly £92,000 from breast cancer charity

A former finance employee who diverted almost £92,000 intended for a leading breast cancer charity into his own bank account and spent the money on personal debts, luxury purchases and travel has been sentenced.

Tameem Choudhury, formerly employed by Breast Cancer Now, appeared at the Royal Courts of Justice on 1^st September 2026 where he was sentenced to two years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to fraud and money laundering offences.

The court heard that Choudhury, 29, of Gujarat House, Stoke Newington Church Street, London 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.

Detective Constable Yusuf Meerza, from the Fraud Operations team at the City of London Police, said:

"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. 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. 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."

Breast Cancer Now funds pioneering breast cancer research through grant funding awarded to institutions including The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.

In 2023, a payment of £91,966.72 from The Royal Marsden was due to the charity. However, on 11 August 2023, Choudhury used his work email account to send altered bank details to The Royal Marsden on Breast Cancer Now headed paper. The bank account supplied belonged to him.

As a result, the refund payment of £91,966.72 was transferred into Choudhury's personal Santander account on 16 August 2024.

Within weeks of receiving the funds, Choudhury embarked on a spending spree, using the stolen money to pay off personal debts, make cash withdrawals, fund wedding and honeymoon expenses, purchase luxury items that included a £14,000 Alexander Brown ring, and transfer money to family members.

Over two days in September 2024 alone, he spent £49,100.47 of the stolen funds.

Evidence recovered during the investigation showed Choudhury was heavily in debt before receiving the money. Messages found on his mobile phone revealed him describing himself as "borderline broke" shortly before accessing the funds.

Investigators also uncovered evidence linking the stolen money to payments made to debt collection agencies, airline tickets for travel to Qatar, wedding-related spending, luxury retail purchases and transfers to relatives.

After suspicious activity was detected, Santander froze and later closed Choudhury's account. At the point it was frozen, £42,866.25 remained in the account and was subsequently recovered.

Following a report from Breast Cancer Now, officers from the City of London Police launched an investigation which led to Choudhury's arrest in June 2025.

A spokesperson at Breast Cancer Now said:

"Following a thorough police investigation we can confirm that a former staff member has been found guilty of charges relating to fraud and sentenced to two and a half years.

“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.”

Anyone who believes they have been a victim of cyber crime and fraud should report it to Report Fraud, the national reporting service, at www.reportfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.

Tameem Choudhury custody image