A Falkirk company director, who tried to claim over £57,000 in fraudulent VAT repayments by faking invoices, has been sentenced after an HMRC investigation.

Dominic Haseltine pleaded guilty to the VAT fraud that took place over two and a half years and involved two companies, Indalo Digital UK Ltd and HD Video Europe Ltd, of which he was sole director.

HMRC said that during the period April 2010 to September 2012 Haseltine sought to obtain £57,349 in VAT repayments. He was sentenced at Falkirk Sheriff Court to two years.

David Odd, assistant director of criminal investigation for HMRC in Scotland, said: 'Haseltine knew that he was breaking the law, yet chose to overlook it for the opportunity of making what he wrongly assumed would be easy money, at the expense of the UK taxpayer. He now has to pay a very high price for his criminal activities.'