VAT dodge ends in jail for director

A shamed former Perthshire company director who carried out a series of VAT frauds totalling more than £174,000 was jailed for 32 months on Wednesday.

Perth Sheriff Court was told that the“level of criminality”carried out by 48-year-old Stuart Newing-Davis had to be condemned.

But Kevin McCallum, QC, said it had been accepted that he gained no “personal enrichment or gratification”.

He had effectively been “robbing Peter to pay Paul” when one of his companies got into difficulties.

While living at Tannoch House, Dunkeld Road, Bankfoot, he was a director of Trainpeople.co.uk - a recruitment agency - and PtarmiganTransport Solutions Ltd.

Instead of paying his VAT, he was effectively re-circulating the cash to meet his payroll and PAYE liabilities.

But Sheriff William Wood noted that the five fraud charges had taken place over 15-16 months and involved a substantial sum.

He had also instructed staff to falsify reports submitted to HM Customs and Revenue and that resulted in“a substantial fraud on the taxpayer”.

“This is a course of conduct which has to be treated seriously,”added SheriffWood.

“Only a custodial sentence will be appropriate.”

In a case which has been dragging through the courts since he first faced charges in December, 2013, Newing-Davis finally admitted last month that he was concerned in the fraudulent evasion of VAT by knowingly submitting false returns to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs between March, 2010, and June 7, 2011.

He fraudulently evaded paying £20,190.98p, £31,500, £45,991.52p, £38,496.83p and then £38,000 in VAT over the 15-month period.

Not guilty pleas were accepted to four other fraud charges involving almost £213,000, said to have been committed between July, 2011, and June, 2012.

The delays in bringing the case to a conclusion were blamed at an earlier hearing on the “voluminous”paperwork generated.

There were said to be 14,000 pages of documents associated with the original 11-charge indictment.

Mr McCallum asked that his client be considered for a Community Payback Order as a direct alternative to jail.

A first offender, he had shown a“considerable degree”of remorse.

He was now working as a part-time bus driver in London and also carried out some consultancy work.

He was also involved with the Anglican Church and members were supporting his wife who had health issues and was living in France.

“The money wasn’t syphoned out of the business for personal gain,”stressed the QC.

A separate Proceeds of Crime action, aimed at clawing back some of the misappropriated cash, was continued until August 16 to allow further investigations to be made.