Leicestershire tax agent jailed for 10 years for HMRC fraud

A Melton Mowbray man who defrauded people out of £750,000 has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Tax agent Robin Moss, an internationally-ranked chess player, was sentenced in his absence, on Monday (October 9).

Moss, who moved to Poland used his ill-gotten gains to splash out on collectible pottery, gold coins and jewellery and became the subject of an international arrest warrant has been issued through Interpol.

He falsified his income, made bogus claims for client and provided untrue documents in fraudulent mortgage applications, said HMRC.

At an earlier trial at Nottingham Crown Court he was found guilty of several counts of tax fraud and theft charges. Moss’s wife, Liliana Moss was also sentenced to seven months in jail, suspended for 12 months, after admitting she laundered some £115,000 of the cash.

Moss was caught following a joint operation between Leicestershire Police and HMRC. He persuaded one client to pay their £53,000 tax bill through him, however, the cash was put straight into his bank account rather than being paid to HMRC.

Other clients had their HMRC details used by Moss to make false tax repayments from which he benefited from.

A third defendant, Rajvir Sahota, admitted mortgage fraud using false documents supplied by Moss.

He pleaded guilty in May 2021 and was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months, on Monday.

Nick Stone, operational lead in HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said: “Moss abused his position of trust to steal from clients and the taxpayer.

“Tax fraud is never a victimless crime and the eye watering sums he spent on pottery and gold should have been funding the public services we all rely on.”