November 18th 2024.
Sara and Jean Barnbrook, two sisters, have been sentenced to jail after being found guilty of swindling almost £450,000 from HMRC. The court heard that over a period of six years, Sara, 54, fraudulently claimed over £482,000 in Gift Aid repayments, of which £446,000 was paid out. Her sister Jean, 51, aided in laundering the money, which was used for various personal expenses such as loan repayments, home improvements, clothes, hotels, travel, and luxury items.
Sara and Jean had been running two Girl Guide groups and one Brownies unit in Leeds at the time of the offenses. As part of their scheme, Sara submitted fraudulent claims to HMRC, stating that the groups had received a total of £1.9 million in charitable donations over an eight-year period. These claims were based on non-existent donations and the names of supposed donors were used without their knowledge.
The fraud was so blatant that some repayments were even claimed after the Girl Guide units had been shut down. The money received from these repayments was then withdrawn in cash or transferred to personal accounts. The scheme was eventually uncovered when Jean called her bank in 2019 to inquire about a Gift Aid payment that she claimed was expected by one of the Girl Guides units that had been closed for 18 months.
During the investigation, Sara attempted to cover up the fraud by forwarding a letter from someone named "Louise" who claimed responsibility for the Gift Aid claims. However, it was later discovered that "Louise" was fictitious and the letter was actually sent from Jean's computer. When Sara was arrested, she initially tried to shift the blame onto her sister but later admitted to her involvement.
The court heard that Sara had a disadvantaged childhood and a disadvantaged adulthood, which led her to commit the fraud in order to improve her standard of living. Her lawyer argued that her 30 years of voluntary service to the Girl Guides should not be overshadowed by her criminal actions. Similarly, Jean's lawyer stated that she was heavily influenced and manipulated by her sister, who had "substantially driven" the fraud.
However, the judge stated that their actions were driven by greed and had a significant impact on the public purse. He emphasized that this type of fraud is not victimless, as it affects all taxpayers who contribute to the Exchequer. An operational lead from HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service also stated that the sisters' actions were a betrayal of trust and served as a warning to others that gift aid fraud will not be tolerated.
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