Woman who conned charity out of £150,000 and fled to Turkey jailed for four years

A woman who stole £150,000 from a young people's charity and fled to Turkey has been jailed for four years.

Donna Wells was detained abroad early last week, having fled the UK two days before she was due to face justice over her long-running campaign of fraud.

The charity boss transferred tens of thousand of pounds out of her employers' bank account and into that of her friend's sandwich van business, as well as swiping cash and purchasing gift vouchers for herself using the company credit card.

The 41-year-old, formerly of Bridgeway East, Runcorn, previously pleaded guilty to fraud offences against Young Addaction Halton, a charity which provided support to people with alcohol, drugs, or mental health issues.

Wells was sentenced in her absence on 5 June at Liverpool Crown Court to four years for fraud by false representation and acquiring criminal property between January 2018 and January 2020.

She had failed to appear at court on 2 December 2022 and information led police to believe she had fled to Turkey.

Following her attempt to evade justice, Cheshire Police worked closely with authorities in Turkey and on 18 August, Wells was detained and deported back to the UK to face sentence.

The fraudster appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on 22 August where she was jailed. She will also serve another four weeks for breaching bail.

Upon entering the dock, Wells - who appeared to be heavily pregnant - said: "I don't want you here" to a woman in the public gallery, who then left the courtroom.

Wearing all black and clutching her stomach, she admitted breaching court bail.

Helen Chenery, defending, told the court that her client was arrested on 14 August in Turkey and was held in an immigration centre before being flown home at the weekend.

She added: "There is nothing particularly sophisticated or elaborate as to her reason for not attending.

"Quite simply, she was frightened. She knew what the inevitable outcome would be. She means no disrespect, although she understands that it might look the way.

"She apologises through me."

Sentencing, Recorder Eric Lamb said: "Knowing you were due to appear before this court in December last year, you took fright and as a result moved to Turkey and thereby were not present at any hearings subsequently. This was a deliberate attempt to evade justice.

"I accept that it was an action borne out of fright and not a desire to frustrate proceedings in this country.

"Your failure to attend resulted in an interference with the administration of justice and a delay to the commencement of your sentence."

Cheshire Police became involved in the case in December 2020 when it was informed of financial irregularities at the charity, relating to payments being made to unknown suppliers, petty cash payments, and card payments.

Wells was employed in a position of a trust as the service manager and approved invoice payments on behalf of the charity.

An audit by the charity revealed a large number of payments being made by Wells, authorising the transfer of funds into four separate bank accounts not known to the charity.

Three of the accounts belonged to Wells but she also used a friend’s husband, Francis Jones, to launder some of the money through his mobile sandwich bar.

Invoices to the value of £42,800 were paid to Jones’ Butty Bar between January 2018 and September 2019.

Jones, 40, of Woodridge, Runcorn, admitted the money had been dishonestly paid into his business by Wells, and he had paid £28,100 of this back to Wells’ accounts.

On 2 December 2022, he was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work.

Following Wells’ sentencing, Detective Constable Daryl Gavin said: “Not only did Wells fraudulently take a large amount of money, this money belonged to a charity committed to helping people in need.

"Instead of facing the consequences of her actions, Wells attempted to evade police before she could appear in court to be sentenced.

“But efforts continued to locate Wells, and have resulted in her being detained by Turkish authorities and deported back to the UK to be held accountable for her crimes.

“As this case demonstrates, if you have committed crime in Cheshire, there really is nowhere to hide.”