An Edinburgh businessman who ran two Indian restaurants in the city has been sentenced to 21 months in prison, after his £86,000 VAT evasion was uncovered by an HMRC investigation
Hermann Rodrigues was detained in December 2011 on suspicion of VAT evasion. He was found to have changed the names of the controlling companies incorporating the ‘Suruchi’ restaurant on Nicolson Street and ‘Suruchi Too’ on Constitution Street multiple times to evade paying VAT, and used the identity of others to conceal his involvement.
Both restaurants charged their customers VAT on meals, but Rodrigues failed to pass this on to HMRC, failing to make £86,543 in VAT payments from January 2009 to December 2011.
He pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and was given a 21 month prison sentence. Action to recover the evaded taxes is now underway
