Jail For GBP0.5bn UK Tax Fraudster

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

06 August 2010

An illegal Ukrainian immigrant at the centre of an organised GBP500,000 tax fraud has been jailed for three and a half years by Woolwich Crown Court, following an investigation by the UK tax authority, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Dmytro Shepel, 25, registered 350 fictitious people on the Self Assessment tax system. False tax repayment claims were then made for 218 of these cases. In total he tried to steal almost GBP650,000 of taxpayers’ money.

Shepel had been living in the UK under a false Lithuanian identity and his fake passport was used to open 74 bank accounts over two years, which then received a number of fraudulent repayments. The total amount Shepel attempted to claim was GBP645,721, of which, at the time of the investigation, GBP559,497.42 had been paid out.

When HMRC officers raided Shepel’s address they found diaries and documents containing lists of fake identities used to fraudulently reclaim tax rebates as well as blank Self Assessment registration forms. Officers found fake identities and bank account details in Shepel’s mobile phone memory. When checked, these bank accounts had been used to receive thousands of pounds of fake repayment cash.

Simon Grunwell, Assistant Director of HMRC Criminal Investigations, said:

“This was a criminal plot which deprived the nation’s public services of hundreds of thousands of pounds. We are determined to stop those involved in this type of criminal activity and bring them before the courts.”

“HMRC takes fraud extremely seriously. In common with commercial financial organisations, we face attempts by individuals and organised criminals to steal from us and we have processes in place to detect and counter fraudulent repayments claims. These are kept under constant review to ensure we are able to deal effectively with ever evolving threats."

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