Business owner jailed for two years

Abdul Rehman of Solihull, who ran an online office supplies business from his home, has been sent to prison for two years for paying no tax on the profits generated by his £3m business, between 2005-2011.

His tax bill should have been around £500,000 but Rehman compounded his failure to pay the correct amount, by producing bogus invoices in an attempt to claim his tax bill should only have been £34,000.

The invoices he produced were from a computer services firm, but closer investigation showed that technician claimed to have carried out the work, was a cleaner.

HMRC offered Rehman the chance to come clean through their Contractual Disclosure Facility (CDF) but he ignored the chance and instead a criminal investigation ensued.

Paul Maybury, assistant director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service said: “Rehman had the chance to put his tax affairs in order but he chose jail instead. He cheated the public purse of hundreds of thousands of pounds that should have been spent on vital public services and is now paying the price for his dishonesty.”

Rehman pleaded guilty and was jailed for two years at Birmingham Crown Court for cheating the public revenue and money laundering offences.