Fake baker scammed investors out of £ 60k
A FAKE baker whose “freshly baked bread” was allegedly warmed on radiators has been jailed for more than two years after admitting a £ 60,000 fraud.
Francesca Barker- Mills set up The Barker Baker in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, as a “social enterprise”, saying she had “fallen in love with baking on a probation course” after avoiding jail for fraud. But she tricked four investors out of tens of thousands of pounds via a bogus government money-matching scheme.
Manchester Crown Court had heard that Barker- Mills, 32, lied to investors that they would double their money.
She sent them photos of what appeared to be her bank account with more than £ 100,000 in it as proof she could pay them back – but the money vanished.
Lied
One Rochdale couple lost nearly £ 31,000 and said they are “still feeling the financial strain”. Another victim was hired by BarkerMills and said he lost about £ 6,000. She lied to customers her bread was baked on site but she bought it at wholesalers to “warm it on the radiator”, he added.
He said he was bullied into lending Barker- Mills thousands for a holiday but lost the money. “The impact of this crime has been massive for me,” he added. “It made me feel suicidal. I took an overdose as a result.”
She also lied that she was given £ 40,000 for a BBC show about how she “turned her life around” plus “council money” to teach schoolchildren to bake.
Judge Sophie McKone told Barker- Mills she was “thoroughly dishonest” and jailed her for two years and three months.