HMRC Sting In Northern Ireland Brings Down GBP1m Tax Fraudster

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

16 January 2007

HM Revenue and Customs revealed on Friday that an Armagh businessman had been jailed for 3 years at Crown Court, Belfast for false accounting following a four year investigation by the UK tax authority.

The complex fraud, with a revenue loss totalling over GBP1 million, centred on false purchase invoices, which Thomas Curran presented as legitimate deductions in the trading accounts of his business, Curran Waste Disposal Services.

Mike Parkinson, speaking on behalf of the HMRC Criminal Investigation Directorate, explained that:

"This has been a long and complicated investigation, but one which shows our determination to protect honest businesses in Northern Ireland, and track down criminals who are tempted to defraud the public purse by fabricating documents in support of business expenditure to which they are not entitled."

"Curran created false invoices in an attempt to under-declare his tax liabilities. We inevitably caught up with him and this conviction sends out a strong message to others who may be tempted to copy his actions."

Curran was found guilty by a jury at a previous trial in June 2006 of Cheating the Public Revenue and False Accounting under the Theft Act (Northern Ireland).

Recommended