Robert Kemp, 56, had been avoiding HMRC since 2021 after he had failed to appear to court hearings regarding a window company he and his son were directors of.

His son, Marcus, was jailed for two years and two months in September 2021.

The pair had submitted invoices for VAT refunds between May and November in 2015, claiming back £251,499 in VAT refunds.

After leaving the bedsit where he was staying half a mile from the restaurant to purchase a kebab for £18 HMRC investigators pieced together the clues to find his whereabouts, arresting the VAT fraudster on 11 April 2024.

Mathew Moignard, assistant director of the Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC said: ‘This case shows that we don’t forget, and we don’t give up. We can and do use a range of tools to track down fugitives and bring them back before the courts to face justice.

‘Tax fraud is not a victimless crime. The tax we all pay helps to fund the public services we rely on. The majority pay the tax that is due, but a determined minority who refuse to play by the rules.’

Kemp was jailed for two years at Swindon Crown Court for VAT fraud, bulked up by a further year for an affray offence. He was additionally sentenced to a further two months for going into hiding.

Moignard said: ‘We are determined to create a level playing field for all and we encourage anyone with information about tax fraud or money laundering to report it online.’