Two sisters who ran Girl Guide groups in Leeds have been jailed for defrauding HMRC of £450,000 through a gift aid scam.
Sara Barnbrook, 54, was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to cheating the public revenue.
Her sister Jean Barnbrook, 51, received a 30-month jail term for her role in money laundering the fraudulent funds.
The pair operated the scam over six years, claiming reimbursements on fictitious donations between 2013 and 2019.
Two sisters who ran Girl Guide groups in Leeds have been jailed for defrauding HMRC of £450,000 through a gift aid scamPA
Prosecutor, Angus MacDonald told Leeds Crown Court that Jean and Sara operated one Brownies unit and two Girl Guide units in the Leeds areas of Crossgates and Manston.
Sara falsely claimed more than £482,000 in gift aid repayments.
HMRC paid out £446,000 of these claims, which were based on fictitious donations totalling £1.9 million over an eight-year period.
MacDonald told the court that donors named on the forms “had no knowledge their identities were being used in furtherance of fraud.”
Some claims were even submitted after the relevant Guide units had closed down.
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The sisters spent the stolen money on luxury goods, hotels, travel and clothing.
Fraudulent funds were also used for house renovations and loan repayments.
The money was either transferred directly to the sisters’ personal accounts or withdrawn in cash after the gift aid repayments were received.
Sara’s defence lawyer told the court the fraud began shortly after her mother’s death, initially as “a desire to bring her standard of living up to a standard of living which most of us take for granted.”
The fraud came to light when Jean called her bank in April 2019 enquiring about a Gift Aid payment for 1st Manston Guides, which had been closed for 18 months.
Prosecutor, Angus MacDonald told Leeds Crown Court that Jean and Sara operated one Brownies unit and two Girl Guide units in the Leeds areas of Crossgates and Manston
Doug Peters
During the investigation, Sara attempted to deflect blame by sending HMRC a letter from someone called “Louise” claiming responsibility.
Investigators discovered “Louise” was fictitious and the letter originated from Jean’s computer.
When arrested, Sara claimed “Jean had nothing to do with it.”
Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told the defendants: “This was a fraud against the public purse and when people such as you commit these offences, they commit those offences out of greed.”
The judge added: “The perception seems to be that it is a victimless crime, but let me tell you, it is not – the victims are not just the state, but every taxpayer.”
Tim Atkins from HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service said: “These sisters stole money that was supposed to support genuine charities and they used it to fund a lifestyle they could not legitimately afford.”