A management consultant has been jailed for two years as a result of a £405,000 tax fraud, after he avoided paying tax for 13 years by using another company’s details and faked invoices to falsely claim VAT
Keith Riley, 65, who provided services via a job agency to Network Rail, was caught in a joint investigation by HMRC and British Transport Police (BTP) which discovered that he had never paid income tax and had fraudulently kept VAT he charged clients.
Riley used fake invoices and stole the VAT registration number of a non-operational arts and crafts business to steal the taxes.
He failed to declare his earnings or pay any income tax, VAT or national insurance contributions (NICs) to HMRC between January 1999 and November 2012.
Riley was jailed for two years and disqualified as a director for 15 years after pleading guilty to three counts of tax fraud.
Previously, he has been ordered to repay £405,636 of his criminal profits to HMRC.
Gary Forbes, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: ‘Riley was well aware that he was breaking the law, but chose to steal the tax entrusted to him by his clients to finance a lifestyle beyond his legitimate income.
‘HMRC will continue to work closely with partners such as British Transport Police to ensure that crooks like Riley are brought to justice.’
