Street Swags charity founder Jean Madden vows to continue fighting fraud charges
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Former Young Queenslander of the Year Jean Madden says she will continue fighting fraud charges and that she has "never done a dishonest thing in my life".
Madden, 37, was honoured in 2010 for her work setting up Street Swags, which distributes personal shelters to homeless people around the country.
Last year, police charged Madden with misappropriating more than $440,000 from the group between January 2015 and June 2016 when she was director.
"We'll definitely be fighting the charges," she said outside Brisbane Magistrates Court today.
"I've got a great team of lawyers so I need to trust the court system and hope that the truth will eventually get out there."
When asked whether she had broken the law, Madden replied: "It's inappropriate for me to comment now that it's before the courts, but I've never done a dishonest thing in my life."
Madden faces a total of nine charges, including seven fraud-related offences.
Her case was briefly mentioned in court today and adjourned until March 13.
Madden and the charity parted ways last year.
Street Swags entered into a voluntary agreement with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission in October after the regulator flagged governance issues.
Topics: charities-and-community-organisations, fraud-and-corporate-crime, courts-and-trials, brisbane-4000
