Tesco scam woman must pay £30,000
A woman who helped run a Shropshire-based scam swindling Tesco out of tens of thousands of pounds has been told she must pay up almost £30,000 or go to prison for 18 months.
Ann Ngyuen, 33, together with her sister, Kim Walton, 35, were jailed last year for conspiracy to defraud with their ‘cheap days out’ social media page.
Yesterday at a Proceeds of Crime hearing at Shrewsbury Crown Court Ngyuen agreed to an order that she pay £29,260 in the next six months.
Judge Anthony Lowe warned her if the money was not paid she would go back to prison, imposing an 18-month jail sentence in lieu of payment.
The court had heard that Ngyuen, of Battersea, South London and her sister, from Eastwood Drive, Donnington, ran a Facebook page called “Kim’s cheap days out” which advertised tickets for days out at attractions including Alton Towers, Legoland and Thorpe Park.
What those who bought the tickets actually received were Tesco booster tickets that could be cashed in for an entrance ticket. The booster tickets were obtained after a third party had hacked into a Tesco customer account to clone their clubcard points.
Mr John Oates, prosecuting, said that for her part in the fraud, Ngyuen was responsible for a loss to Tesco of around £35,000.
He said that Ngyuen had not been co-operative with authorities in the investigation of her finances and had provided a few scraps of paper saying that she owed money to people.
Giving evidence in court Ngyuen agreed to sell her share in the business and pay the money. At an earlier hearing her sister, Kim Walton, was told she must pay just £10.
