‘Out and out liar’ business director jailed

Judge slams bankrupt ‘devoted dad’ following £310,000 HMRC VAT fraud

A BANNED bankrupt business director was branded an ‘out and out liar’ by a judge after fraudulently submitting VAT returns to claim more than £300,000.

Daniel Elsom, 36, attempted to dupe HMRC and associates in his role as financial director for Fareham-based sales company Utility Lead Group Ltd.

The businessman was brought to justice and jailed for four years after being found guilty of fraudulent evasion of VAT at Portsmouth Crown Court following an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Elsom, of Victoria Road, Emsworth, submitted fraudulent VAT returns to claim £310,000 in VAT repayments he and the business were not entitled to between April 2016 and June 2017.

Of the £310,000 claimed, £166,000 was paid out by HMRC and £144,000 withheld by the government department.

The court heard, the ‘devoted dad’ submitted VAT repayment claims for highvalue goods and services that were never purchased or supplied during his ‘sophisticated’ operation that implicated others.

One of his ventures involved a ‘dubious’ high-end car leasing enterprise that saw him take on luxury cars including an Aston Martin and Range Rover. But these were only even used by Elsom – with no customers ever driving the cars.

On another occasion, a fraudulent £500,000 outlay for software services was claimed.

The court heard Elsom ‘fabricated invoices’ and made illegal claims for expenses that were not used for the business.

The court was told that Elsom had even falsified the name of his business partner in documents to HMRC.

Jack Talbot, defending, admitted his client ‘crossed the line’ with him going ‘too hard too fast which led to his dishonest actions’.

His attempts to have the sentence suspended proved futile, though.

Judge William Ashworth said to Elsom: ‘You are an out and out liar, persistently trying to get ahead in business.

‘Sadly, you drew your friend and partner in so they could be a front as directors and so you could use their bank accounts as you were unable to do so because you were bankrupt.’

Elsom was also banned from being a director for 10 years. HMRC will recover the fraudulently claimed VAT through civil recovery processes.