‘Most Innovative’ accounting award-winner jailed over £100,000 Leeds fraud

Sharon Eyre, 52, was sentenced to two years after pleaded guilty to defrauding Leeds firm Tropicana Interior Landscaping.

Leeds Crown Court heard Eyre abused the trust placed in her by company owner Sue Graham and continued to steal despite her offending putting the firm in serious financial jeopardy.

Mrs Graham had to sell jewellery, company vehicles and take money out of her pension to keep the business afloat as a result of Eyre’s deception.

Andrew Horton, prosecuting, said Eyre was a self-employed book keeper and worked part time at the company from 2007.

The prosecutor said the company was established in 1986 and had an annual turnover of around £300,000, employing six members of staff.

From May 2007 until the deception came to light earlier this year Eyre had been paid £150,000 in wages.

Investigations revealed Eyre had paid a total of £98,992 into her own bank account.

Mr Horton said Eyre had written out 29 company cheques her herself. She would also pay invoices twice - with one amount being paid to a supplier and the same amount then being paid into her own account.

The court heard that by 2011, Eyre knew the firm was struggling financially because Mrs Graham had to sell personal jewellery and put the money into the company. In 2013 she also had to release £30,000 from her pension and sell two vans to help with cash flow. In a statement provided to the court, Mrs Graham said: “It was an horrendous year with the HMRC knocking at my door.”

The company was also under pressure to make VAT payments and had a letter from a bailiff.

Other members of staff had to have their working hours reduced and could not be given a pay rise.

Mrs Graham added: “I feel totally and utterly betrayed. For nearly 30 years I have worked and built up a business. I thought she was my friend.”

Police searched Eyre’s home in Wakefield and found expensive branded goods including watches and handbags.

She told police she had been stealing money because she felt under pressure to provide for her two daughters. Eyre, of Cobbler Hall, West Bretton, pleaded guilty to fraud.

Jailing Eyre, Recorder Ray Singh said: “No doubt you were under financial pressure and your children were relying upon you but those are pressures that every parent who is working in these very difficult times have to undergo.

“But they do not engage in criminal activity as you chose to do so. There was an abuse of your position of power and trust and responsibility for a small employer.”

Eyre’s business, Accounting 4, is listed online as “an energetic business offering bookkeeping and payroll to clients throughout the local area.”

In 2014, Eyre’s firm won an award for Most Innovative Accounting Firm at an annual awards by BookkeepingAwards.co,uk

The award acknowledges “innovation in the profession, as voted for by book-keepers, accountants and fellow professionals.”