Cambridgeshire haulier and accountant jailed for £130,000 tax fraud

Accountant Christopher Alecock, (63), of Cannon Terrace, Wisbech, and haulier Barry Anderson, (70), of Main Road, Lotts Bridge, Wisbech, lied to staff at their haulier business, HL & RV Anderson Ltd. Between July 2012 and June 2015, the pair told employees that National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and Income Tax totalling £58,968.87 had been deducted from their wages, when in reality these deductions had not been made.

As well as lying to their staff, investigations revealed that both Alecock and Anderson had deceived customers, using a deregistered VAT number on invoices enabling them to steal £68,733 of VAT payments and hide their fraud.

Alecock and Anderson were found guilty of two counts of cheating the public revenue and were sentenced to three years in prison and 30 months in prison respectively, at Cambridge Crown Court yesterday (Thursday)

Adam Kingsgate, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Alecock and Anderson didn’t spare a thought for their employees, customers or the honest majority of taxpayers they were stealing from. As an accountant, Alecock knew what his responsibilities were, but he chose to ignore them. Both Alecock and Anderson stole money that is needed to fund our vital public services.

“HMRC is levelling the playing field against the small minority of people who try to get ahead by lying and cheating. Anyone with information about tax fraud can report it to HMRC online or contact our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”

HMRC is now looking to recover the proceeds of the fraud.