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  "path": "/news/fraudster-jailed-stolen-pension-pots",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-29T05:40:21.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Benefits cheat mother raked in £75,000 after claiming partner was homeless",
    "Benefits cheat raked in thousands of pounds in housing credit while owning a second home in France",
    "Benefits fraudster spared jail after stealing £24k in Universal Credit with dozens of fake invoices",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA fraudster has been jailed after she stole nearly £700,000 out of her colleagues' pension pots.\n\nGemma Phoenix, 44, was handed a four-year prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position at Hull Crown Court.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nPhoenix, of Hayton Avenue, Pocklington, worked as a bookkeeper and director of a taxi firm between April 2023 and August 2024.\n\nShe was responsible for managing business accounts, paying drivers and office staff, Humberside Police said.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\nOfficers found she had stolen about £693,965 from the business.\n\nPolice said they had received reports that the firm's staff pension contributions were not being paid.\n\nAfter an investigation, it was revealed they were being paid by Phoenix into her own bank account.\n\nShe disguised the transactions with names such as \"pension\" and \"HMRC\".\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nShe claimed to have won the money through gambling - then even offered it to her friends.\n\nThe 63-year-old owner of the taxi firm told the court he was forced to take out a £100,000 loan and remortgage his home thanks to her fraud.\n\n\"I felt like my stomach had been ripped out,\" he said.\n\nHe told the courts the business employed 12 full-time members of staff with 300 taxi drivers working on a self-employed basis.\n\n### FRAUDSTERS - READ MORE:\n\n\n\n\n  * Benefits cheat mother raked in £75,000 after claiming partner was homeless\n  * Benefits cheat raked in thousands of pounds in housing credit while owning a second home in France\n  * Benefits fraudster spared jail after stealing £24k in Universal Credit with dozens of fake invoices\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe business owner told the courts he trusted Phoenix \"without question\".\n\n\"She assured me my business would be in safe hands and I would have nothing to worry about,\" he said.\n\nThe firm was sold in September, and the owner told the court he received only half of what it would have been worth prior to the fraud.\n\nHe said: \"It's devastating to no longer have the business that I worked so hard to build.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"I don't have any business at all now.\"\n\nPC Chelsea Walker, who led the investigation, said: \"The impact of what [Phoenix] has done cannot be underestimated.\"\n\nPC Walker said she was \"hidden in plain sight\" as a trusted employee of the business.\n\n\"Not only did Phoenix steal people's hard-earned cash, she also severely impacted their future financial security and stability, with no regard as to how this would affect them,\" she added.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Fraudster jailed after stealing £700k out of her own colleagues' pension pots"
}