Two sisters, Sara Barnbrook, 54, and Jean Barnbrook, 51, have been sentenced to prison for defrauding the taxpayer of nearly £500,000 over a six-year period by exploiting the Gift Aid system through their positions as Girl Guides volunteers.
Sara, the elder of the two, submitted fraudulent Gift Aid claims to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on behalf of Girl Guides groups she ran in Leeds. By falsifying donations between 2013 and 2019, Sara claimed over £482,000 in Gift Aid refunds, of which HMRC paid out around £446,000 to the Girl Guides accounts. However, much of this money was siphoned off into personal accounts.
The pair manipulated the identities of other Girl Guides volunteers to authorize bank transfers, funneling money into their own bank accounts. They spent the stolen funds on luxury goods, clothing, home improvements, and loan repayments, prosecutors revealed.
Fraud Scheme and Lavish Spending
Sara Barnbrook used fictitious donors’ names to submit false Gift Aid claims, allowing her to claim 25% in tax relief on donations that never existed. Jean, her younger sister, laundered the proceeds through her personal bank account, helping conceal the fraud. Between them, the sisters spent over £90,000 on luxury items, nearly £50,000 on clothes, and almost £70,000 on loan repayments. Jean also used £40,000 for home improvements.
The fraud scheme unravelled in 2019 when Jean Barnbrook contacted her bank about a Gift Aid claim she thought was owed to one of the Girl Guides groups—despite that group having closed down 18 months earlier. In a last-ditch effort to evade detection, a forged letter was produced on Sara’s computer, falsely claiming responsibility for the fraud.
Court Ruling and Sentencing
At Leeds Crown Court, Sara Barnbrook was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to cheating the public purse. Jean Barnbrook, who admitted to money laundering, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
In mitigation, Sara’s defence claimed she was motivated by a desire to improve her lifestyle, while Jean’s lawyer argued she was not the mastermind behind the operation. However, Judge Mushtaq Khokhar stated that both sisters had played equal roles in the “sophisticated” scam, which he described as an act of “greed.”
Tim Atkins from HMRC remarked after the sentencing, “Tax fraud is not a victimless crime. It has real consequences for the public services we all rely on.”
The case highlights the risks of exploiting charitable systems for personal gain, especially in volunteer-based organizations.
