VAT fraudster gets five years

AN Altrincham man, who absconded during his trial for a £4.5m VAT fraud earlier this year, was jailed at a hearing on Monday.

Raymond Bowden, 69, of Barrington Road, Altrincham was sentenced to five years at Liverpool Crown Court, and has been banned from being a company director.

He had been on the run since last July when three of his co-conspirators were jailed for their part in the platinum trading fraud that saw the gang import platinum ingots from Italy and sell them on without paying the VAT due to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Mike O’Grady, HMRC Assistant director of criminal investigation, said: “Bowden was found guilty in his absence at the original trial and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest while he was on the run. The court was going to sentence him in his absence on Monday but he decided to turn up and surrender himself at the court hearing.

“Our officers identified suspicious trading between several north west companies in 2006 and 2007. Their customers were paying VAT on items they bought but the metal traders were not declaring it; instead Bowden, who acted as courier for the gang’s shipments, collecting the imports at UK airports, and the rest of the crime gang simply pocketed the VAT for their own personal gain.

“Tax fraud and attempts to launder the proceeds of crime are treated extremely seriously by HMRC, and we will relentlessly pursue any individuals or crime gangs believed to be attacking the Revenue in this way.”