A mum of two at the centre of a “clever” scam which defrauded a hospital of more than £600,000 was jailed for four years today.
She exploited her job in the accounts department to funnel £642,000 to her partner Scott Chaplin and six other men.
Tipler, 32, substituted account numbers of pharmaceutical firms due payment with details of the men recruited by Chaplin.
Yesterday Judge Anthony Leonard QC described Chaplin, 33, as the “main instigator” of the scam, which he said could have been “catastrophic” for patients.
But passing sentence at Southwark Crown Court, he told Tipler: “It could only have been you who could have come up with the ingenious methods to ensure that your fraud went undetected.
“I am satisfied that it was not you who had the idea to defraud the hospital. That said, the position of trust you held made you invaluable in achieving the fraud.
"The skill you showed was very clever.”
Cancer hospital scam
Stacey Tipler sentence in years
Scott Chaplin sentence in years
The funds were funnelled to the men and then withdrawn as cash in a money laundering operation.
The gang spent it on shopping sprees for designer goods.
At one point a drugs firm threatened to stop supplying the hospital with medication after failing to receive payment. Some of the money was recovered but the hospital remains £310,000 short.
Both Tipler and Chaplin, from Carshalton, Surrey, were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud. Chaplin was also convicted of conspiracy to money launder, and was jailed for five-and-a-half years.
Four of the other men involved were jailed and two received suspended sentences.
Fraud lawyer Kelly Matthews said: “This was a sophisticated fraud to divert vital public funds.”