Money launderer's group received £55k from council

A council has admitted it cannot be sure that all the money it gave to a group run by a convicted money launderer was used legitimately.

Jean Barnbrook was jailed in November alongside her older sister Sara for her part in conning HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) out of nearly £500,000 by submitting fraudulent Gift Aid claims through the Girl Guides group the pair ran.

An audit conducted by Leeds City Council revealed the local authority paid more than £55,000 in grants to a separate youth group run by Jean Barnbrook between 2018 and 2024.

The report, which has been seen by the BBC, said there was "insufficient evidence" to conclude all the cash had been used for its stated purpose.

A council spokesperson said the audit had found its grant funding controls were "appropriate and proportionate".

However, one councillor, who had asked for the audit to be conducted, said the local authority should ensure "this sort of thing never happens again".

The report said the council had sample-tested about half of the money it gave The Tribe youth group over the six-year period.

The Tribe, which was described as a third sector voluntary organisation led by Jean Barnbrook, received cash from several different council funding pots.

The last payment to the group was made in October 2024 - just one month before the Barnbrook sisters were jailed - according to the report.

In some cases, the amount of the individual grant was too small for evidence of how it was used to be sought by the council.

But the report added that in some instances there were "weaknesses in compliance with existing controls".

It said it had found proof to "substantiate some" of the funding claims made by The Tribe, but added: "We have concluded that there is insufficient evidence held to provide assurance that all the funding awarded by the council has been used for the purpose it was provided."

The Barnbrooks splurged the cash they obtained from HMRC on clothes, luxury items and home improvements, according to their sentencing hearing at Leeds Crown Court.

The pair "manipulated" oblivious volunteers connected with the Girl Guides groups, by using their identities to sign off bank transfers.

The council's audit confirmed that Girl Guides and Brownie groups run by Jean Barnbrook had received more than £21,000 from the local authority between 2008 and 2017.

However, because of the timescales and data protection rules, the council was unable to make checks on whether or not this money had been used legitimately.

Asked for comment about the report, a council spokesperson said: "Providing full assurance on all council funding would require a full audit of recipient organisations' accounts, which falls outside our remit.

"We do not have direct access to the financial records of third-sector organisations, and in this case, the original associated youth group has since closed."

Councillor Mark Dobson, leader of the Garforth and Swillington Independents group, said "alarm bells" should have been ringing for the council at an earlier date.

"If they are serious about protecting public money and framing robust budgets, independent councillors need assurances this sort of thing never happens again," he said.

"Council officers should have the confidence and ability to question such profligate spending on one single group, working in a single area of the city, and should have the ability to push back on those elected members of council who thought any of this was a good idea."

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