Film tax fraudsters facing jail

A GANG who made a film solely as a £2.8m tax scam have been convicted in the first prosecution for film tax relief fraud.
 
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators found that the film, A Landscape of Lies, which it was claimed starred Hollywood A-list actors, was never intended for the big screen and was a sham production.

It said the real intent of the production company, which included two men from Manchester, was to defraud the public purse of nearly £1.5m in VAT along with nearly £1.3m in film tax credit claims.
 
Gang leader Bashar Al-Issa, 34, of Maida Vale, London, along with Aoife Madden, of Northern Ireland, Tariq Hassan, of Essex, Ian Sherwood and Osama Al Baghdady, both of Manchester, owned Evolved Pictures. They told their auditors that they had a budget of over £19m provided by a Jordanian company to produce a blockbuster film in the UK.
 
Evolved Pictures told HMRC that millions of pounds had been spent on the film, including paying actors and film set managers, claiming this meant a VAT repayment was due of £1.4m.

During checks HMRC found that the work had not been done and most of the suppliers and film studios had never heard of the gang. Capitalising on a scheme designed to support British film, Evolved made fraudulent tax credit claims of £256,385, while preparing to submit a further claim of £1.03m.

John Pointing, assistant director of criminal investigation at HMRC, said: “This gang thought they could exploit rules for genuine British filmmakers and thieve from the public purse for their own gain. They were wrong as HMRC will not stand by and let that happen. Falsely claiming VAT that is not due is illegal – so we are pleased that instead of this film flop going straight to DVD, these small-screen z-listers could go straight to jail.”

All five men were convicted of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and will be sentenced on March 25.