Back to prison for Shropshire conwoman as £76,000 fraud revealed
An ex-accounts worker who was jailed for swindling her Shropshire employer out of more than £120,000 has been sent back to prison following admissions she scammed another firm out of £76,000.
Ann Jones was jailed for two years and eight months in May 2018 for stealing from Jim Dorricott Construction Ltd of Minsterley, near Shrewsbury.
After hearing about the deception, her previous employer, Oswestry-based CV Rollers, began checking historic records and it was found she had conned the business out of £76,000 over eight years.
Jones was released last year, but has now been locked up again following a ruling by Judge Peter Barrie.
He gave the 60-year-old a 12-month prison sentence at Shrewsbury Crown Court, saying he could not overlook the "grave seriousness" of the offence.
Mr Oliver King, prosecuting, said Jones was the sole accounts worker for CV Rollers.
He said she manipulated the pay system and 'inflated invoices' to suppliers, paying herself the difference.
"On other occasions she was more brazen and simply transferred money from CV Rollers account directly to her own account," Mr King said.
She also transferred money to her son's account and wrote company cheques out to herself.
The fraud did not stop there, as timesheets were scrutinised and it was found that she 'frequently exaggerated her hours of work' so she would get paid more.
Jones, of Heritage Way, Llanymynech, admitted two counts of fraud dating back to between 2004 and 2012.
Representing Jones, Ms Sam Powis appealed to Judge Barrie to give her a sentence that could be carried out in the community to allow her to move forward.
She said there were 'exceptional circumstances' and Jones had suffered from mental health issues.
Judge Barrie, who passed her original prison sentence, said when she had taken the money from Jim Dorricott Construction she brought the firm into great financial difficulty.
He said: "I felt it necessary to send you immediately to prison. You were employed in a position of trust. "It was as a result of the publicity given to that court hearing your previous employer questioned whether you might have done the same thing when employed by them."
He said she had manipulated the system, adding: "These were regular offences committed repeatedly over a long period of time and with a modest degree of sophistication."
Jones will also face a proceeds of crime hearing at a later date.
She ripped off Jim Dorricott Construction between 2013 and 2016 while working as an accounts manager.
