JAIL FOR 131,00 INLAND REVENUE CHEAT

21 Jun 2004 01:15 PM

Tina Boulter formerly of Aylsham Road, Norwich, Norfolk appeared before Norwich Magistrates Court on 19 February 2004 accused of cheating the Inland Revenue of income tax exceeding 131,000.

On Friday June 18 Boulter (age 31) was sentenced to two years imprisonment.

His Honour Judge Mellor remarked in his summing up:

"You have betrayed the trust your employer placed in you and, in your own words, have let your family and yourself down."

The fraud occurred between August 1998 and October 2002 whilst Boulter was employed at Nelson House, Prince of Wales Road, Norwich as an Inland Revenue Officer.

During a 4-year period, Boulter defrauded the Inland Revenue by systematically creating fictitious records in order to generate repayments of tax that were not otherwise due.

Anne Chant Chairman of the Inland Revenue said:

"The Inland Revenue will not tolerate fraud - as the public would expect. Cases like this happen very rarely but we will always prosecute and seek a custodial sentence where appropriate.

This woman has abused the trust of our customers and her colleagues and the court obviously recognised how serious this was."

Boulter was arrested in October 2002 in a joint operation between Norfolk Constabulary and the Inland Revenue Boards Investigation Office.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. Boulter worked for the Inland Revenue for 11 years.

2. 28 Repayments were made to three accounts. There were 16 repayments totalling 47,000, which went into a joint account she held with her husband. Another 13,000 went into her husbands account, and more than 8,500 into her mother's account. Another 13,000 was paid into her then landlady's account.

3. When arrested, Boulter admitted she was solely to blame.

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