A brothel madam from Manea who raked in £1.4million during a ten year tax-free illegal enterprise has paid the price for her wages of sin.

Dorothy Jones, 64, was jailed for four years on Monday after the taxman caught up with her and discovered she had dodged paying tax totalling £386,000 on the ill gotten gains.

Jones, of 5 Dunvegan Close, Manea, rented three properties in south-west London, for her enterprise; she pleaded guilty at Kingston on Thames Crown Court to managing the brothels between 2003 and 2014.

The first, named ‘Sapphires’, was located in a flat at 214A Burlington Road, New Malden and ‘Annabella’s’ occupied next-door properties at 27 and 29 St. James Road, Surbiton.

She also pleaded guilty to cheating the public revenue of income tax between 2003 and 2013 and laundering criminal property via a Santander bank account, namely £137,000 between 2007 and 2013.

Along with her husband Stephen Jones, 52, she also admitted fraud by false representation, namely acquiring a £115,000 mortgage for their matrimonial home.

The couple produced forged documents for companies that did not exist to support the mortgage application in which Dorothy claimed to be a £48,000 a year masseuse and Stephen a £35,000 a year family entertainer.

Stephen Jones received a 12-month community order, which included 180 hours community service work for his offence and was ordered to pay £250 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

A third defendant, Denise Oliver, 46, of 61 Springfield Place, New Malden pleaded guilty to possessing criminal property, namely £1,221 cash from the brothels, which police found during a raid of her home.

She also received a twelve-month community order, which includes 120 hours community service work.

However, the driving force behind the operation was said to be Madam, Dorothy Jones. Prosecutor Sarah Selby told Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court: “These businesses were owned by Dorothy Jones. She rented the properties and received most of the profits they generated.”

She did not declare the brothel income throughout the period, only disclosing minor amounts of revenue from other sources.

The couple’s joint mortgage application to the Yorkshire Building Society was false, but it has been paid off and they now face selling their home to cover HMRC’s (the taxman’s) application for unpaid tax.

Documents seized during the investigation revealed an estimated £1.4million turnover from the brothels, said Selby, with profits of £950,000 giving an approximate yearly income of £95,000.

Also seized was evidence she made cash deposits of £137,000 into her bank account to cover the mortgage payments.

When Oliver’s home was raided the cash was found stuffed in four separate envelopes marked with the name of the prostitute who had earned it.

“She was seen at the brothels on a number of occasions,” said Miss Selby.

Judge Peter Birts QC queried during the sentencing hearing: “How has it been allowed to go on for so long?”

He was told that the brothels were relatively low-key with only a handful of local complaints about unusual coming-and-goings.

The court heard confiscation proceedings have been initiated and a large amount of valuable personal possessions had been seized from Mrs Jones.

Her lawyer estimated she could make £70,000 to £100,000 available to the taxman after the sale of her home.