A management accountant and a company director from Kent who funded lavish lifestyles through tax fraud have been ordered to pay back more than £3.5m within three months, or serve longer prison terms and still owe the money
Aquil Ahmed’s accountancy business, Keepers, ran the payroll for Victor Shearer’s construction services company Leaner Logistics Ltd. Both men were part of a conspiracy that defrauded HMRC of £6.9m in VAT, income tax, National Insurance contributions and construction industry scheme (CIS) deductions through fraudulent payroll schemes.
Shearer introduced other clients to the payroll company and use of the fraudulent scheme. Workers believed their taxes were being paid to HMRC, but instead they were lining the men’s pockets.
Both men were jailed for the fraud in October 2016. Ahmed received a sentence of seven years and eight months, and was disqualified from being a company director for 10 years. Shearer was jailed for seven years and six months, and also disqualified from being a company director for 10 years.
During his trial the court heard Shearer laundered £1.2m through a Gibraltar bank account and spent money on property and high-living including ski-holidays, cars and treating friends, family and clients. Ahmed owned a Bentley, bought properties in the UK, US and Turkey, and took multiple foreign holidays including trips to Dubai and the Monaco Grand Prix.
Following confiscation hearings at Maidstone Crown Court both men now face selling their assets to pay back a total of £3,578,999. Ahmed must repay £2.9m within three months, or face a further five years in jail, while Shearer must pay back £646,000 within three months, or face a further three years in jail.
Nicol Sheppard, assistant director, fraud investigation service, HMRC, said: ‘Ahmed and Shearer stole millions of pounds from the UK economy, using numerous UK and offshore companies to hide their fraud. They were driven by greed, abusing systems that are designed to ensure workers are paid correctly and taxes paid to HMRC.
‘They are still serving their prison sentences and if they fail to comply with these orders they will spend even more time behind bars - and still owe the money.’
The criminal benefit for both men is more than the assets available. Ahmed’s criminal benefit was calculated as £4,165,594, and Shearer’s as £1,326,938. HMRC can pursue any future wealth to cover the full criminal benefit.
Report by Pat Sweet
