A fisheries entrepreneur from Fife, Scotland, will have to spend 32 months in prison after pleading guilty for having faked invoices to scam nearly GBP 500,000 from the taxman.
John Fleming, owner of ICS Fisheries Ltd, located in the Scottish town Anstruther, plotted a scheme that saw him completely fabricate invoices from a haulage company allowing him to reclaim VAT on expenses his business had never actually incurred, between May 2007 and July 2013.
Official sources revealed that the entrepreneur was caught out when an HMRC VAT inspector spotted differences between the invoices he claimed to have paid to haulage firm G and J Wilson and the invoices issued by the company, BBC reported.
And when representatives of G and J Wilson were interviewed they told HMRC investigators that the amount of cash Fleming claimed he was paying them was far more than they received from any customer
“The business owned by the accused is involved in the sale of fish, which is zero-rated for VAT. As a result, the accused is lawfully entitled to claim back any VAT incurred by him in the expenses involved in the sale of this fish, pointed out Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Official documents have revealed that all invoices showed exorbitant levels of haulage costs being claimed by him against his alleged purchase of huge quantities of fish.
Besides, the accused’s computer was later analysed and it was uncovered that these false invoices had in fact been created by the accused on it before he had submitted them on to his accountants and induced them to make the false claim on his behalf.
Meanwhile, Fleming’s lawyer told the court that he had managed to pay back the cash in full by selling property he owned – but a sheriff said the scam was too serious for him to avoid jail.
Defence solicitor David Bell said: It appears the haulage company were not charging VAT and he was assuming it was included and was claiming it back. He then realised they were not adding VAT and he spotted the loophole and then exploited it over a lengthy period.
1995 – 2017 Fish Info & Services Co.Ltd