Nine tradesmen have received suspended sentences and a three-year jail term for attempting to steal £300,000 as part of an organised tax fraud, through submitting false claims to HMRC for tax repayments
The men, from Widnes and Liverpool, mainly worked as subcontractors including painters, decorators, builders and roofers, however the main ringleader, James Roberts, was unemployed.
HMRC discovered that Roberts had made fraudulent amendments to his own tax returns, claiming to work in construction, and allowed his bank account to be used by the other members of the group.
His partner, Natasha Sinnott, helped the fraudsters by allowing the stolen taxes to be laundered through her bank account.
Roberts was jailed for three years with the rest of the group, including Sinnott, receiving suspended sentences.
The false claims were made under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) and were uncovered by the Income Tax Self-Assessment Repayments Taskforce.
HMRC withheld the majority of the tax repayments when it began to become suspicious and is now recovering any remaining stolen tax.
