A businessman and his ex-girlfriend, who used bogus identities to steal more than £2.3m in a tax fraud, have been jailed for a total of ten years.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) found that Satpal Singh Mahal, 48, from Walsall and Louise Brown, 53, from Plymouth, had used false and stolen identities to set up fake companies and bank accounts online; with Mahal claiming to be a doctor on one application.
Each of the companies alleged to sell advertising in the UK media to overseas clients, enabling the couple to fraudulently reclaim VAT on UK expenses. However, HMRC investigators discovered that none of the companies actually traded.
The couple claimed VAT repayments through four companies and attempted claims through three others, over a period of four years.
Mahal and Brown, a chiropodist, were caught out when checks made by HMRC into their VAT returns raised concerns, and each time officers asked to speak with them at their business premises, they said they were too busy to answer questions.
Mahal pled guilty to committing insurance fraud after he was found to have submitted fake invoices to his insurers, when the couple’s flat was damaged.
HMRC will now seek to recover the proceeds of their crimes.
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