A beauty products seller who made more than £156,000 by claiming VAT repayments on stock she had not bought avoided jail after telling a judge she was a single parent.
Monica Bircham, 44, whose company sold “ethical” cosmetics, used the cash to “finance her life”.
She claimed more than £156,000 back from the taxman between 2004 and last year after buying just £22,000 worth of stock, Southwark crown court was told.
But the judge let Bircham, who wept throughout the hearing and has turned to teaching after her business flopped, walk free. He imposed an 18-month suspended jail term and ordered her to complete 150 hours unpaid work. She will be subject to a six-month curfew.
Robert Tolhurst, defending, said the business, Scoop SkinCare Ltd, had been set up legitimately but turned “sour”. The defendant’s 13-year-old son would be forced to uproot his life from London to Wales if she was jailed, he added.
Bircham, from Vauxhall, admitted cheating the Inland Revenue. Her fraud was uncovered last year after tax inspectors asked to see her books.
Judge Michael Grieve QC told Bircham: “You produced a series of invoices which were fraudulent. You sought to cover up the offence by forging invoices on your laptop. You were arrested and in interview, you gave no answers to questions asked of you.
“It has to be said the offence to which you pleaded guilty is very serious and there is no other punishment that can be justified other than a sentence of imprisonment.
“This is a case where a court would not normally feel it can give serious consideration to suspending the sentence. But I have come to the conclusion that I can just suspend the sentence.”
