Former Wales rugby player is sentenced over tax fraud

A FORMER Wales rugby player has been given a suspended jail sentence and has been ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work after admitting tax fraud.

Former Cardiff, Bridgend and Wales rugby player Simon Hill, who now works as a dentist, was one of four men to be sentenced yesterday for their roles in a tax scam following an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Former police officer Roderick Bond, 59, and financial market trader Lee Palmer, 45, invested in the Formula 1 Projects LLP scheme that involved claiming false tax rebates for a film featuring F1 racing stars which was never made.

Simon Osborne, 58, an independent financial adviser, was jailed for his part in introducing former rugby player Hill, 50, to the scheme. Hill went on to submit fraudulent tax repayment claims to HMRC.

Hill was part of the squad which saw Wales win the Five Nations Championship in 1994.

More than 60 officers from HMRC’s fraud investigation service took part in the operation which saw properties searched and computers, business records and mobile phones seized before arrests in August 2014.

The scheme – created by former accountant Terence Potter, 58 – saw investors claim financial losses on the £6m they claimed to have spent between March 2008 and May 2009. HMRC said the artificial losses allowed the investors to falsely claim around £40,000 in tax relief for every £20,000 they had invested.

HMRC investigators found a series of suspicious tax repayment claims, which had originated from partnerships set up and managed by Monaco-based accountant Potter.

The majority of the tax refunds claimed by investors were withheld and £210,000 that had been paid out has since been recouped by HMRC.

The four men were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court yesterday.

Hill, 50, of Wick, Cowbridge, admitted conspiracy to cheat the public revenue on April 19 and was given a 20-month jail sentence, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.

Bond, 59, of Washway Road, Sale, Greater Manchester, Palmer, 45, of Kremlin Drive in Liverpool, and Osborne, 58, of Boverton Road, Llantwit Major, were each jailed for two years and eight months after being found guilty of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue.

Defendants in two other trials linked to this case have all been jailed for their part in the scam.

Potter, already serving eight years for being a central figure in them all, pleaded guilty in September 2017 to his role in the Formula 1 Projects LLP conspiracy.

In October 2017, he was disqualified from being a company director for eight years.

Simon York, director of fraud investigation at HMRC, said: “These men tried to cheat the system by claiming tax relief on a non-existent film and were thwarted by HMRC investigators who work tirelessly to stamp out fraudulent activity.

“For anyone thinking of embarking on a similar path and stealing money from honest taxpayers, this result shows that nobody is beyond our reach.”