Taking Stock: The tax inspector who stole Christmas
It isn't just the Grinch who can steal Christmas
TS HAS ALWAYS been a fan of Dr Suess’s classic The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
Something about the wordsmithery (TS – always breaking new ground in linguistics – Ed), the truly epic story and the sympathetic nature of the protagonist really appeals to the hardened hearts of TS’s staff.
So with Christmas – at least in the eyes of the shops – around the corner, TS was initially pleased to hear the Grinch was back.
What we hadn’t bargained on was it taking place in reality, sans lustrous green fur, and taking on a more serious, Bernard Madoff angle. This time, though, it took place in Southend, rather than Hooville.
You see, the Daily Mail reports former HMRC employee Ruth Kevan was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail after turning an originally innocent fund to encourage colleagues to save for Christmas into what amounted to a Ponzi scheme.
In all, she stole around £160,000 – a relatively small yield for a scheme she had run since the late 1970s – much of which went on holidays and trips to Edinburgh to watch Scotland’s rugby team in the Six Nations Cup. Living the dream for those who don’t dream big, some might say.
Still, just as the Grinch’s attempts to steal Christmas were thwarted, TS was pleased to see that so were Kevan’s, with Proceeds of Crime proceedings underway to recover the victims’ money underway.
