Curfew order for £35K fraudster

A floor layer from East Kilbride who admitted a £35,000 tax fraud has been handed a curfew order.

William Doonan, 61, from Stirling Drive, East Mains charged customers VAT while working as a sub-contractor for local firm Veitchi Flooring Limited.

Between 2009 and 2015, despite being de-registered for VAT in 2004, he was fraudulently charging customers VAT on the goods and services he supplied.

Fiscal depute Callum Forsyth told the court Doonan was caught when a VAT inspection was carried out in 2015.

Suspicion was aroused when company records revealed that numerous payments inclusive of VAT were being made to Doonan’s personal bank account.

Further investigations uncovered that Doonan was continuing to act as a sub-contractor and repeatedly fraudulently declared that he was registered for VAT despite being declared insolvent.

After an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Doonan was detained in April 2016 and pled guilty at Hamilton Sheriff Court in February.

He was ordered to remain within his home between the hours of 9pm and 8am for a period of eight months.

Joe Hendry, assistant director of the fraud investigation service at HMRC, said: “This was a deliberate attempt by Doonan to steal tax and line his pockets. He knew he had been de-registered for VAT but decided to flout the law and keep the money. Tax fraud is a serious crime.”