former secretary who funded a luxury lifestyle on the proceeds of a £12 million VAT fraud in areas including Walsall has been jailed for 10 years,

former secretary who funded a luxury lifestyle on the proceeds of a £12 million VAT fraud in areas including Walsall has been jailed for 10 years, according to Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Jayne Mitchell, 40, bought Ferraris, luxury properties and went on lavish shopping sprees with the cash she made from the huge tax fraud involving the importation of vehicles from across Europe, HMRC said.

Mitchell, along with six others, imported more than 7,000 new vehicles which they sold on through a complex web of fake companies with a turnover of more than £80m in two years.

Revenue officials said the cars were imported VAT free, passed through a chain of fake companies, and eventually sold on to unsuspecting car supermarkets and dealerships across the UK. But many of the fake companies disappeared without paying the VAT due on the sales.

The companies were spread around England including some based in Selby, North Yorkshire; Pudsey, West Yorkshire; Walsall, West Midlands and in Northamptonshire.

Mitchell, who was originally from Selby, had a luxury home near the North Yorkshire town and another in Belgium, where she was arrested.

She once worked as a secretary and is a well-known pigeon fancier. Mitchell, of Wilsden Road, Allerton, Bradford, was found guilty on Friday at Bradford Crown Court of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue. She was jailed for 10 years by Judge Jonathan Durham Hall.