A TREASURER who defrauded a cancer research charity out of more than £100,000 “strung along” volunteers for an entire year with a list of excuses to cover up where the money had gone to, a court heard.

Ian Smith, 54, had been the treasurer of Relay for Life Clacton, where an army of volunteers – many of whom are cancer survivors – dedicated their time to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.

But when cheques to the charity bounced, Smith – who admitted fraud by abuse of position earlier this month – is said to have fabricated an array of excuses to mask the fact the funds had in fact gone into his own bank account.

More than 20 charity workers gathered to witness the hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday, where victim statements were read out describing how the money could have gone towards life-saving cancer research.

Smith originally became involved in Relay for Life Clacton in late 2013 as the logistics liaison before becoming treasurer, with his role involving the sending of the final amount of money raised each year to Barclays Bank via cheque.

But the court heard yesterday that Smith misled the charity.

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Cheques to make it look as if money had been transferred were valueless, and bank statements to suggest money had been received by Cancer Research UK were fraudulent, the court heard.

Samantha Lowther, prosecuting, read out communications between Smith and other charity workers which took place from January 2020 to May 2021, the period of time he was being pursued for the money which had gone missing.

Over this period, Smith said the bank couldn’t complete the transaction because members of staff were self-isolating from Covid infection, claiming he had been on hold for hours to the tax office, and was completing work courses.

Mrs Lowther said: “The defendant effectively fobs the charity off and gives excuses.”

Steven Levy, mitigating, said during the period of the fraud, Smith was suffering from depression and was acting as a carer for his mother, who had suffered a major stroke; his father, meanwhile, had been sectioned due to dementia.

Smith, of Church Hall Gardens, Little Clacton, is due to be sentenced on Tuesday morning.