Almost £2 million VAT and tax fraud case: Director told pay £250
A DIRECTOR of a Swaffham employment agency was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court yesterday in connection with a revenue fraud case totalling almost £2 million.
Amanda Gilding (33), one of the owners of Staffhire, appeared alongside Grant Hudson (48), of Glossop, Derbyshire, and Robert Peace (50), of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, in relation to VAT fraud totalling 900,000 and PAYE and National Insurance fraud totalling 1 million.
Gilding, of The Oaklands, Swaffham, admitted one charge of false accounting and asked for two similar offences to be taken into consideration.
The court heard she falsified payroll records in September 2005 to suggest genuine trade and taxable supplies where none were in fact taking place.
She was banned from being a director of any company for 18 months, given 120 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay 250 costs.
Hudson and Peace both admitted conspiracy to cheat the Inland Revenue. Peace was jailed for 30 months and banned from being a company director for five years, while Hudson was jailed for 15 months and banned from being a director for three years.
Another man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faces a trial next year and two others are awaiting sentence for conspiracy to cheat the Inland Tevenue. They are Staffhire co-owner and director Peter Wing, of Meadow Road, Narborough, and Michael Bignall, of Rotherham.
Prosecuting, John Anderson said yesterday that the offences happened between September 2002 and October 2005.
“It was an abuse of the tax system involving the provision of agricultural labour to the food processing industry in East Anglia. Five companies in Yorkshire and North West England were involved,” he said.
Sentencing all three defendants, Judge Alasdair Darroch told them: “This was a substantial fraud which went on for some time. Frauds on the revenue affect everyone and taxpayers have a right to be affronted when others cheat the system. This was a complete sham, documents were produced just to reduce the amount of VAT.”
Martin Evans, representing Gilding, said: “She was only responsible for criminal activity for one week. She was suspicious and that suspicion hardened to knowledge.”
Patrick Palmer, representing Peace, said he was not the main organiser and Colin Wells, in mitigation for Hudson, said he was recruited into the fraud and is now financially ruined.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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