A man who threatened to bomb an HMRC tax office after he was arrested for not paying any income tax or national insurance on income of over £500,000 has been jailed for 21 months following an HMRC investigation
Scott Petrie from Hertford, who traded in aggregates and cleared rubbish, was caught when HMRC’s hidden economy team could not trace his tax returns despite being registered as self-employed
Petrie was arrested at his home in June 2012, where officers found £20,000 in used notes in a safe, a machete, a replica gun and a Samurai sword. He was later charged with the fraudulent evasion of income tax, national insurance and VAT.
When asked for details of his income, Petrie claimed that his cash sales for 2003 to 2011 were in the region of £137,200. Investigators discovered that this amount would not have covered his monthly expenses. Using his bank statements they estimated that, from 2005, Petrie’s income, including cash sales was actually in excess of £589,200 and he should have paid around £194,000 in tax, national insurance and VAT.
At a preliminary hearing in January 2013, Petrie protested his innocence and told the court that the bomb threat was a joke.
He was found guilty of the fraud charges when he appeared at Luton Crown Court in September 2014 and subsequently given a 21-month prison sentence.
Paul Barton, assistant director, criminal investigation, HMRC, said: ‘Petrie knew the game was up and that he would now have to pay his dues.
'He resorted to threatening our staff and premises with violence. He will now pay for his crimes by serving a prison sentence and HMRC will seek to recover his ill-gotten gains and return them to the taxpayer.’
A confiscation hearing to recover the proceeds of crime is to follow.
