A cancer charity boss has been fined for spending £100k of donations made to the charity on a 210ft Welsh dragon statue.
Boss of the charity, Simon Wingett, had legal action brought against him which subsequently revealed he had nabbed £410,000 worth of the charity's donations and used some of it to craft a sculpture.
That same sculpture, a 210ft Welsh dragon, was built on the grounds that Wingett hoped it would become a tourist attraction.
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Wingett has been ordered by a High Court of Justice council to pay back £117,000 for the potential tourist attraction, which thankfully was not built.
That same £117,000 paid back by Wingett will be distributed to charities supporting the relief of cancer patients treated around the Wrexham area.
The Frank Wingett Cancer Relief was set up by Simon Wingett's father as a way of purchasing equipment and resources for cancer patients.
Despite its storefront closing in 2018, the charity reportedly had made no donations over the seven years between its last payment in 2011 and the closure of the store.
A £4,500 payment had been made to Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board back in 2011, but not a penny extra for a seven-year period after that donation was made.
Along with having to pay back £117,000, Wingett was barred from acting as a trustee for any charity for the next decade.
The charity regulator made it clear that the so-called tourist attraction dragon statue project "has no connection to advancing the charity's aims and, to date, no statue has been built."
Speaking on the case, Tracy Howarth, Assistant Director of Casework at the Charity Commission, said: "Charity trustees hold important positions of trust.
"We – and the public – expect trustees to ensure financial decisions are taken in the best interests of the charity and those it serves to benefit.
"Mr Wingett’s significant misuse of funds was an abuse of the trust placed in him by the many donors to the charity. This ruling will ensure the charitable proceeds raised are now directed to the benefit of those in the local community they were intended for."
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