Tameem Choudhury walked out of the Royal Courts of Justice into custody on September 1, 2026, facing two years and six months behind bars for stealing money meant to fund breast cancer research. The 29-year-old former finance employee at Breast Cancer Now didn’t just skim the till; he stole the entire £91,966.72 refund owed by The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. He did it by sending altered banking details on official charity letterhead to the trust, tricking them into wiring the cash directly to his personal Santander account.
The money vanished quickly. Choudhury used the funds to clear debts, fund a wedding, and buy a £14,000 Alexander Brown ring. Police records show he spent £49,100.47 in just two days in September 2024. Text messages recovered from his phone revealed he was “borderline broke” before the transfer, using the stolen cash to pay off collection agencies and book flights to Qatar.
Santander detected the suspicious activity and froze the account, recovering the remaining £42,866.25. City of London Police arrested Choudhury in June 2025 after Breast Cancer Now reported the fraud. He pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering, admitting he redirected the payment for personal use rather than returning it to the charity.
The charity says it has reviewed its internal processes to prevent similar breaches. All funds were returned, so no research money was lost in the long run. Choudhury’s freedom, however, is over for the next two and a half years.