Fraudster who swindled charity out of £150k jailed after Turkey arrest

A bench warrant for Donna Wells, who used a friend’s husband, Francis Jones, to launder some of the money through his mobile butty bar, was issued by a judge without a bail option in December.

Jones, 39, admitted that invoices totalling £42,800 had been dishonestly paid into his business by Wells, of which he had paid her £28,000 back.

He was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment suspended for two years at Liverpool Crown Court and ordered him to carry out 100 hours unpaid work in December.

Wells failed to attend that hearing, and she was sentenced in her absence to four years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court in June.

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

The court previously heard from prosecutor Simon Christie that Wells was service manager for Young Addaction Halton, based in Grangeway Community Centre, Runcorn.

The organisation, now known as We Are With You, supports people with drug or alcohol problems.

“Part of her role was to approve invoice payments on behalf of the charity. Her criminality is in six figures,” he said.

Jones owned Jones Butty Bar, and through his business she paid 17 invoices between January 15, 2018, and September 6, 2019.

A total of £42,800 was paid in and he paid her £28,100 back to her.

When interviewed, Jones, a dad of two young children, said he knew Wells as she was a friend of his wife and said he had provided some children’s food packages for Addaction.

Liverpool Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

He said he had bought a van for his business from his sister but amassed a £12,000 debt, and he was declared bankrupt in September 2020.

Mr Christie said that the fraud had “a catastrophic impact on the charity.”

Jones, of Woodridge in Runcorn, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to money laundering.

Recorder Andrew McLoughlin previously said that 40-year-old Wells abused her position of trust “to bully and hector people around her.”

Wells, of Bridgeway East in Runcorn, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position between January 4, 2018, and January 25, 2020.

When she was remanded on bail to enable pre-sentence reports to be prepared, Wells said that she wanted to go to Turkey to see her mother.

For the breach of court bail, Wells was handed an additional sentence of four weeks imprisonment, consecutive to her four-year sentence.

Following the conclusion of the case, DC 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 they 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.”