THE Test Valley owner of a marketing agency who fraudulently claimed more than £377,000 in VAT refunds has been jailed after she brazenly produced a string of fake invoices to try and cover her tracks.

Luisa Prior, 51, and her business Brand Development & Management Ltd were investigated after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) became suspicious of a series of VAT refund claims submitted between 2007 and 2012.

Prior, whose business purported to book UK advertis- ing space for an Italian company, was not only producing false invoices so that she could reclaim VAT but was illegally reclaiming VAT on invoices she claims had been paid directly by her clients.

Prior, an Italian national, rented properties in Ampfield and Kings Worthy at the time of the fraud.

John Cooper, assistant director, Criminal Investigation, HMRC, said: “Luisa Prior stole more than £377,000 of taxpayers’ money knowing full well that she was not entitled to claim VAT refunds.

She produced false invoices in an attempt to hide the fraud.

“The money that she stole should have been spent on running the UK’s public services, not as her personal piggy bank. This type of fraud is a serious criminal offence and today’s case will serve as a warning to others who are tempted to play the system.”

HMRC officers visited Prior, who also used a variety of aliases throughout the fraud, on a number of occasions but each time she was unable to produce all of the relevant paperwork to support her claims. But, during a visit to her home in June 2013, officers became suspicious after she simply printed out a number of invoices before handing them over as legitimate ‘business records’.

Investigations continued and Prior was arrested in September 2013. She was later charged with fraud by false representation and pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming £377,422 in VAT refunds at a Winchester Crown Court hearing on June 11, 2015. She was sentenced to two-and-ahalf years last Friday afternoon.

Upon sentencing Prior, Mr Recorder I Lawrie QC, said: “You have to go to prison for the calculated fraud on the Revenue. You persistently indulged in making claims over a considerable period of time.”

HMRC will seek to recover criminal proceeds.