Accountant jailed for VAT scam
An accountant has been jailed after claiming more than 100 fraudulent repayments in a £400,000 VAT scam.
He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for VAT fraud and a further 12 months for attempting to pervert the course of justice, after forging a medical report from a Cypriot hospital in an attempt to avoid the trial.
An investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) found false claims had been submitted for hijacked businesses and fake firms over a three-year period.
Nick Stone, assistant director at HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said: “This was a significant and sustained attack on the public purse, orchestrated by Sidhpara, along with his wife and business partner. The Sidhparas spent money on a lifestyle they could not legitimately afford and bought a large house with the proceeds of the crime.”
The 35-year-old acted as an accountant for a number of small firms and had the fraudulent VAT repayments paid into various bank accounts, which included some belonging to him and his wife, who helped him launder more than £80,000.
The cash was used to lease Mercedes cars and to buy a large detached home for him and his 32-year-old wife, Ritu Sidhpara, who was also jailed for 23 months after admitting money laundering offences. The couple also enjoyed more than a dozen holidays between 2010 and 2013, which included trips to Las Vegas, Mexico, India, Dubai.
During sentencing, at Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Richard Bond QC, described Rakesh Sidhpara as “thoroughly dishonest” and “a conman” who was the “controlling mind of the fraud.”
Tanveer Akram, 35, from Handsworth, also received cash from the fake VAT returns and passed the proceeds of crime back to Sidhpara. He was convicted of VAT fraud during the same trial at Birmingham Crown Court and was also jailed two-and-a-half years.
