VAT fraudster who pocketed friend’s tax and NI gets jail

A two-year prison sentence has been handed down to a County Durham businessman who left a black hole in the state pension fund of

a friend he employed, after failing to pass on his income tax and national insurance deductions to HMRC.

Graham Walker, 61, employed his lifelong pal in 2008 to assist with the running of ‘The Tillman’ – his till sales and repair business.

But despite issuing his only employee with payslips detailing income tax and national insurance deductions of £31,785.46, Walker pocketed the cash. The scam was uncovered in 2014 during an investigation into Walker’s VAT affairs.

Following a search of his home and PC in February 2014, HMRC officers recovered 578 invoices dated between 2008 and 2014. These showed that £64,651.55 in VAT had been charged, but Walker was not VAT registered and had simply kept the money.