Street Swags charity founder Jean Madden to fight new fraud charges

FORMER Young Australian of the Year finalist Jean Madden faces fresh charges after being accused of ripping off $440,000 from her homelessness charity.

Street Swags founder Jean Madden is fighting fresh fraud charges.

SHE’S the charity founder who vowed to put herself out of a job by ending “systemically entrenched poverty”.

Instead, Jean Madden is fighting allegations she misappropriated $441,000 from Street Swags, the organisation she founded to help give homeless people a more comfortable night’s sleep.

The former Young Australian of the Year finalist, who has maintained her innocence, was forced to step down from the organisation last year after preventing access to charity bank accounts following allegations that she had used the charity’s funds to bankroll her lifestyle.

Fancy lunches, Apple store purchases and a loan for a new Toyota Landcruiser are some of the alleged transactions that raised eyebrows, as revealed in a Supreme Court battle between Ms Madden and the charity.

Initially charged with one count of fraud, she now faces a string of new charges, which her lawyer Kris Jahnke has indicated are in relation to the existing case against her.

Police revealed on Monday they had charged the 37-year-old Brisbane woman with six more counts of fraud, one count of falsifying a record and one count of attempted fraud.

“As I understand it, the new charges are intrinsically linked to the current offence before the court. It’s disappointing that this didn’t come to light six months ago,” Mr Jahnke told reporters outside the Brisbane Magistrates’ Court. “It’s important to remember my client denies any wrongdoing.”

Ms Madden, a former teacher and theology student, founded Street Swags in 2005 to provide the homeless with canvas bags that convert to bedding.

“I decided to buy every homeless person in Brisbane a swag for Christmas, but soon realised that existing products didn’t suit their needs,” she wrote on LinkedIn.

“I was spurred into action to keep the maximum number of homeless people alive until they could get the support that they need ... So I designed a world-first basic bed and shelter, lightweight and portable.”

She went on to claim that the organisation has helped thousands of homeless people, with almost 50,000 of the swags distributed in Australia and overseas.

Over the years, Ms Madden has received a string of honours and awards for her work with Street Swags, from Queensland Young Australian of the Year 2010 to Ernst & Young’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 and the Innovation prize for Queensland at the 2011 Telstra Business Woman of the Year awards.

The charity raised $1 million in donations in 2015, including $27,000 from Tour de France winning cyclist Cadel Evans, but its future now hangs in the balance.

Ms Madden last year posted an emotional video to Facebook denying all allegations.

She is due to face court on the new charges on February 28, and the existing case has been adjourned to March 13.

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— With AAP

Originally published as Street Swags charity founder Jean Madden to fight new fraud charges