THE director of a North Dorset building firm fraudulently took £16,206 from the company for "domestic expenditure" and transfers abroad.

Paulina Kubicz, 25, was sentenced to 200 hours unpaid work and barred from being a company director for four years at Bournemouth Crown Court on April 21, after pleading guilty to an offence under the Insolvency Act 1986.

The court heard Kubicz set up the company, White Eagle Modern Building Services Ltd, in Gillingham in 2012 with two other directors.

In 2014 they had obtained a £120,000 contract in Sturminster Newton, but so little work was done a Federation of Master Builders adjudication found the company should pay back £58,000.

Kubicz and her fellow directors decided they could not afford to pay this, resigned from the FMB and took advice about liquidating the company.

The company had also signed a £74,000 contract with another customer who was unaware White Eagle had resigned from the FMB, and he arranged for them to do further work worth £35,000.

The court heard Kubicz set up a new bank account in her name, telling the bank a number of lies in the process, and then told the customer to pay £16,206 into the new account, citing problems with the existing company bank account.

Dorset County Council trading standards, which brought the prosecution, said less than £500 of this money was spent at builders’ merchants and most was spent on "domestic expenditure and transfers to Poland".

Recovery of the money has begun under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

In mitigation, her barrister said she had been given conflicting advice about company law.

He said she was now working as a security officer at Bristol airport and may have the opportunity of a job with the Ministry of Defence.

Judge Peter Johnson said although she was of previous good character and her marketing skills exceeded her project management skills, nevertheless she had misled the customer into paying the money into her account.

Dorset trading standards' Ivan Hancock said: "When a limited company goes into liquidation this will often cause some disruption and distress to consumers and other businesses owed money. However in this case the director concerned sought to avoid their legal responsibilities having failed consumers.

"This case illustrates that our trading standards service will consider using a full range of formal options, including a range of legislative controls and proceeds of crime recovery options, where companies or individuals act unfairly to the detriment of consumers."

The council urges residents to use its 'Buy With Confidence' scheme to pick an approved company. Visit buywithconfidence.gov.uk