Golf captain ordered to pay thousands after decade long defrauding of Macmillan Cancer Research with fake charity golf events

A team-mate of a convicted fraudster has spoken of their shock and disgust after learning that none of the proceeds of the golf tournaments he organised for a decade went to a cancer charity.

Richard Lee Bramley used people's trust to his own benefit, but justice finally caught up with him when he received a suspended prison sentence, prompting one former team mate to say work colleagues, friends and family, many of whom had lost loved ones to cancer, would be devastated by the deception.

Bramley had collected money through charity golf events for Macmillan Cancer Research. However, none of that money ever reached its intended destination.

Since 2010 Bramley, of Robinson Place, Brant Broughton, and formerly of Newark, organised charity golf events known as The Longest Day, which involved teams playing 72 holes of golf in a day.

A former team-mate of Bramley's said: "His team members that he did these events with will be destroyed as they no doubt would have raised money from their own friends and family and given it to him. Some team members had lost very close relatives from cancer.

"The golf clubs will be sickened that he used their clubs to enable this scam.

"His work colleagues, friends and family will be devastated to think that he would take from them and not pass on to people who are ill or dying from cancer.

"Mr Bramley had done this challenge for 12 years, apart from one or two years.

"He had been the organiser every time, so anyone he did it with gave any money that they had raised to him and he was classed as the captain of his team.

"He always advertised his intentions of doing these yearly events on Facebook. Sponsor sheets were put up in the golf club that he was doing it in, his work and also other places local to him such as the local pub."

The former team-mate then explained how red flags began to appear, saying: "Suspicion set in a couple of years ago when people noticed that he never put on an online [fundraising] link to his Facebook, which generates easier donations and makes the whole thing more transparent.

"He never gave exact figures when asked how much he had raised. There were other similar red flags when he had raised money for other charities, never giving exact totals.

"There will have been a lot of people — mainly friends, golf members, work colleagues and family — that gave to his fundraising events.

"I find it the most despicable thing to do, steal from a charity. He is a conman and the sooner the public know the better."

They also made clear that no other team members took part in the fraud, saying they were totally unaware of Bramley's deceit, trusting that the money handed over to him would be passed on.

Concerned members of the public later brought this to the attention of Macmillan whose counter fraud team investigated the matter.

The charity then took out a private criminal prosecution, with Bramley appearing at Boston Magistrates' Court on Monday, October 24, 2022, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud by abuse of position between July 7, 2010, and July 27, 2021.

Bramley was back in court on November 7 for sentencing where he was given 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months. Magistrates also ordered him to complete 200 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months as well as pay £2,400 in unpaid donations to Macmillan, and a victim surcharge of £128.