A Wigan man is among a gang of six, including a former HM Revenue and Customs employee, who have been jailed for a total of 24 years for stealing more than £2.4m of VAT payments.
Stephen Maish, 54, a semi-professional darts player of Willow Road, Beechill, allowed his identity and company to be used as part of the fraud.
The gang were this week found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue.
They used insider knowledge provided by former tax office worker Susanne Green, 38, from Moray, Scotland, to fraudulently claim millions in VAT repayments. She was described by a judge as the ‘linchpin’ of the fraud.
Maish, who has competed under the nickname ‘Mr Magic’ against darts stars such as 16-times world champion Phil Taylor, was jailed for two years and has been disqualified from being a director for three years.
A three-year investigation found former HMRC employee Green had used her position working in the Electronic Payments Team in Southend, Essex, to identify unallocated VAT payments and fraudulently pay them elsewhere.
The investigation found that Arthur Lee, 55 from Essex - who was in relationship with Green - received details from her and passed them to unqualified accountants Michael Perry 46, from Essex, and Daniel Weidner, 47, from Hampshire.
They then used their clients’ companies to claim the VAT payments for themselves.
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Maish, Lee and Londoner Michael Myatt, 56, allowed their identities and companies to be used as part of the fraud.
The investigation came to light when a legitimate taxpayer queried why their payment to HMRC had not credited its VAT account. This and a further three payments had all been misallocated to the same incorrect trader by Green.
HMRC’s assistant director internal governance criminal investigations, fraud investigation services, Joff Parsons, said: “Green, Lee, Perry and Weidner were at the forefront of a highly sophisticated fraud.
“Had HMRC not stopped them they could have attempted to steal millions more in a deliberate attack on the public purse but they are now facing over 24 years in jail as a result of their fraud.”
Sentencing Green, Her Honour Judge Joanna Korner said Green had demonstrated a “colossal breach of trust”.
Green had used the proceeds of her ill-gotten gains to pay for a Toyota Rav4 car and for expensive holidays, including one to Las Vegas.
Confiscation proceedings to recover the gang’s criminal profits are ongoing.