David Hirst enlisted the help of his former wife, Sharon Mitchell, who worked at a Leeds high street bank, to submit fake account statements to HMRC. These appeared to show that Hirst and his accomplice Carl Buttle had spent thousands on diesel. The trio then reclaimed the VAT ‘paid’ on the non-existent fuel.

But their scam hit a road block when an HMRC taskforce, set up to target fraudulent VAT refund claims, turned its attention to C&C International Transport Ltd. Investigators discovered the company had no premises, vehicles or employees.

As part of the investigation, codenamed Operation Akimbo, HMRC contacted fuel suppliers and established that invoices provided by C&C International Transport Ltd were forged. Bank statements submitted in support of a £45,407 VAT repayment to sister company Independent Road Transport Ltd were also found to be counterfeit.

The homes of Hirst, Mitchell and Buttle were searched in April 2014. At interview, Hirst admitted the businesses never existed and that the invoices were false. He went on to explain the purpose of the fraud was to claim enough money to set up a genuine haulage business. Buttle denied any knowledge of the plot.

Meanwhile, a forensic examination of Mitchell’s work computer uncovered a number of counterfeit invoices. Investigators also discovered she had used equipment belonging to the bank to produce the forged statements – before sending the documents to HMRC from her work email address.

Jo Tyler, assistant director, fraud investigation service, HMRC, said: ‘David Hirst might have fancied himself as a businessman, but it’s a very poor businessman indeed who thinks plotting with others to steal from the taxpayer is a good way to pay for a lorry.’

After pleading guilty to the fraudulent evasion of VAT at an earlier hearing, Hirst was sentenced to 20 months in at Bradford Crown Court.

Mitchell received a nine month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to a charge of false accounting. The court heard her 36 years of employment at a Leeds bank ended after she was sacked for gross misconduct.

Buttle, who also admitted the fraudulent evasion of VAT, was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid work.

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