A WOMAN who was involved in a £20,000 VAT fraud over a five-year period has only paid £1 back of the huge sum.

Nicola Campbell, 54, of Murdocairnie Farmhouse, Cupar, was due to appear before Dunfermline Sheriff Court last Wednesday but didn't turn up.

She previously admitted that between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2014 at Dewar Street, Dunfermline, Murdocairnie Farmhouse or elsewhere, she was knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of Value Added Tax amounting to £20,000 by repeatedly submitting claims for repayment of VAT on non-qualifying transactions and transactions which had not taken place.

Defence solicitor Gwen Haggerty passed a letter to Sheriff Craig McSherry from a doctor in the Netherlands suggesting why Campbell would not be appearing in court for some months.

He revealed that she had only paid a tiny amount of the money back and granted a warrant for her arrest.