Garden centre fraudster told to pay money back
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A court has ordered a former garden centre director who robbed her business to repay it £125,000.
Deborah Buffery had worked as finance director for Bristol's Riverside Garden Centre. She was sentenced to a year behind bars last July after Bristol Crown Court heard that she had diverted thousands of pounds' worth of company funds to herself, despite being well-off.
Now, the court has heard that Buffery benefited from her crime to the value of £125,000, a sum which she will have to pay in compensation to the garden centre.
If Buffery fails to pay up within six months she will face another two years in jail, and still have to give the money back.
Commenting on the case, manager of Avon and Somerset Financial Investigation Unit Dr Kirstie Cogram said: "We are committed to seizing all assets that criminals have gained as a result of crime.
"It is not acceptable that criminals benefit from illegal activities, and we will relentlessly pursue them through the courts to ensure their money is taken.
"By doing this we show criminals that they will not benefit from crime and deter others from entering a life of crime."
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