Aquil Ahmed, 60, an accountant; Victor Shearer, 43, a construction director at Leaner Logistics, and Christopher Azzopardi, 37, a payroll administrator employed by Ahmed, defrauded HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of VAT, Income Tax, National Insurance Contributions and Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) deductions.
The three Kent men attempted to hid their fraud by using a complex network of companies and bank accounts in the UK and offshore.
Mr Ahmed employed Mr Azzopardi to operate payroll services for clients through his various 'Keepers' companies, supposedly calculating wages and paying any tax due to HMRC through the PAYE and CIS systems. Clients were charged VAT on these services, but neither the VAT nor the PAYE and CIS deductions were paid across to HMRC.
Mr Shearer's company, Leaner Logistics, supplies short-term contractors for the construction industry, often providing hundreds of workers at a time. Shearer used Ahmed's Keepers companies to run his payroll and CIS.
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Over a period of time, Mr Shearer introduced other clients to the payroll company, who also used this fraudulent scheme. However, instead of paying the tax and National Insurance to HMRC, the three men used the money to fund Mr Ahmed and Mr Shearer's lavish lifestyles.
Mr Ahmed owned a Bentley, purchased properties in the UK, USA and Turkey, and took multiple foreign holidays. In addition, Maidstone Crown Court heard Mr Azzopardi was in debt and Mr Ahmed paid him around £60,000-per-year for his role in the fraud. No tax was paid on his salary.
In addition, Mr Shearer spent vast sums of money through bank transfers, cash withdrawals and by debit card, on property and high-living, ski holidays, cars and treating friends, family and clients.
Overall, Mr Ahmed, Mr Azzopardi and Mr Shearer were sentenced to seven years eight months, four years, and seven years six months imprisonment, respectively.
Chris Gill, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: "These men were driven by greed, abusing systems that are designed to ensure workers are paid correctly and taxes paid to HMRC. They were all professionals who knew they were breaking the law, but as an accountant Ahmed was in a position of trust, making his part in the conspiracy even more deplorable.
"These criminals thought they'd created a sophisticated fraud, and that by operating through numerous UK and offshore companies, they could hide what they were doing. But our investigations are thorough, and with assistance from authorities in Gibraltar, we unravelled the many layers they'd created and they are now paying the price for their crimes."
(LM)
