A landlord from Luton has been sentenced in his absence to eight years in jail for a £1.2m VAT and income tax fraud following an HMRC investigation.

Mohammed Farook purchased a tenanted commercial property in Luton in November 2001. He appointed an agent who issued invoices on his behalf until August 2011 that included VAT, which Farook received but simply pocketed. HMRC also found that he had received rents of over £1.9m since December 2001 but had never declared the income.

The fraud was uncovered when one of the tenants queried the VAT number. Farook claimed that he was unaware that his agent had charged the tenants VAT, although he had supplied the VAT number. He also claimed that living in Dubai he thought that he did not have to pay any tax on his UK income.

Farook was arrested in September 2012 and was charged with two counts of cheating the public revenue in February 2013 this year, but absconded before the trial began. He was subsequently found guilty and sentenced in his absence. HMRC says it is actively pursuing Farook.

Andrew Sackey, HMRC assistant director of criminal investigation, said: 'Farook cheated not only the taxpayer but also his tenants. This was fraud on a large scale and was totally unfair to other landlords who play by the rules and pay the correct tax.'