In another case concerning VAT repayment fraud, a Stockport man was last week sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment, in his absence. He had been convicted of committing an £800,000 fraud by submitting over 350 false invoices linked to fictitious exports to Pakistan.
According to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Mohammad Tanwir Khan's business records were checked by investigators after anomalies with invoices for his import / export company were discovered during a VAT inspection in 2010.
Khan was charged with VAT fraud of over £817,000. In Manchester Crown Court seven years of fake invoicing was provided as evidence – including 389 false invoices submitted to HMRC between 2006 and 2011. HMRC investigators also discovered over 1,700 suspect documents on Khan’s computer, plus hundreds of blank invoices in his home office and garage.
Khan was the sole director of Spearpoint Limited, which claimed to regularly supply mechanical parts to clients, including the Pakistan Navy. He sourced equipment from the UK and Europe and then exported them to clients in Pakistan. To justify the VAT repayments he falsified freight invoices from several defunct, bogus and genuine suppliers.
According to HMRC, some invoices were crudely amended with correcting fluid while others were photocopied or produced on home computer templates. Most of the consignments did not exist or were for much smaller parts.
Khan was found guilty on 3 May 2013 and was due to be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on 17 June 2013, but failed to attend. The court issued a bench warrant for his immediate arrest and he was added to HMRC’s “most wanted” list of tax criminals on 9 August.
Khan now faces a confiscation hearing.
Contact Lewis Nedas’ Criminal Lawyers in London
If you have been charged with VAT fraud and require specialist legal advice please contact our solicitors Jeffrey Lewis or Siobhain Egan on 020 7387 2032 or complete our online enquiry form here.
This blog post is intended as a news item only - no connection between Lewis Nedas and the parties concerned is intended or implied.
