Building firm boss caught out in £60,000 VAT scam
A former construction company boss from Sutton Coldfield has been handed a suspended prison sentence for submitting more than £60,000 of false VAT repayment claims.
Dalmit Singh Dohil, 40, who has now moved to Essex and is unemployed, was caught submitting bogus claims dating back to 2009.
Dohil falsified invoices and bank statements for two companies he was director of at the time, Citadel Homes Ltd and Mayfield House (Moseley) Ltd.
HMRC paid £30,461 of the VAT claims submitted by Dohil and withheld a further £29,610 of claims. Dohil paid back £30,461 ahead of sentencing yesterday.
He was handed a two-year prison sentence suspended for 15 months. He was also ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work and to pay £2,000 court costs.
Investigators from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) linked Dohil to the bogus claims when they found he had exchanged false invoices with convicted Birmingham VAT fraudster, Harinderpal Singh Lotay.
Lotay was first arrested by HMRC in 2013. He was also handed a suspended two-year prison sentence last month at Birmingham Crown Court for VAT repayment fraud.
The 39-year-old, from Sparkhill, tried to steal more than £97,000 by submitting a string of fraudulent VAT claims.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “People like Dohil steal money that funds our vital public services. They also gain an unfair advantage over competitors who are doing the right thing and paying what they owe.
“HMRC will pursue criminals who attack the tax system in this way. We ask anyone with information about suspected VAT fraud to contact our fraud hotline on 0800 788 887.”
