Two sisters splashed out on expensive clothes and holidays after carrying out a ‘sophisticated’ £446,000 Gift Aid fraud while running Girl Guides groups.
Sara Barnbrook, 54, and Jean Barnbrook, 51, transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds into their personal bank accounts after falsely claiming money off Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Leeds Crown Court was told.
The sisters ran two girl guides and a brownies group in Leeds but betrayed the trust placed in them by using the charity for the criminal scheme.
Over six-and-a-half years they submitted Gift Aid claims in relation £1.9million in ‘entirely fictitious’ donations, said Angus Macdonald, prosecuting.
Sara admitted a charge of cheating the public revenue and was jailed for three years and Jean was given a two-and-a-half year sentence after pleading guilty to money laundering.
Gift Aid enables charities to claim an additional 25 per cent from the government on top of donations given to them by taxpayers by submitting…
