£500k fish fraudster facing jail

A FISHING tycoon is facing prison after he cheated the taxman out of nearly £500,000.

John Fleming concoted bills from a haulage company on his computer to claim the VAT on bogus expenses.

Over six years the boss of ICS Fisheries, in Anstruther, Fife, raked in £489,341.

When tackled over the ‘unrealistic’ and ‘exorbitant’ claims, he insisted they were genuine, Dundee Sheriff Court heard.

Fleming, 59, of Balmullo, Fife, was snared after the unsuspecting hauliers told HMRC investigators that his bills were much higher than any other of their customers. Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson said Fleming’s business, selling on catches, was zero-rated for VAT, allowing him to claim back bona-fide expenses.

However, HMRC became suspicious at the surge in VAT return claims and began investigating.

He submitted the invoices to his accountant, who prepared a return for him. The court heard Fleming claimed to pay in cash so there was no trace of the transactions in his account. Miss Robertson added that HMRC visited ICS in December 2012, where it was found that a high number of haulage costs concerned one supplier, G and J Wilson.

Further inquiries uncovered a substantial discrepancy between VAT on fish bought by Fleming and the tax declared by G and J Wilson.

She continued: ‘The invoices were shown to G and J Wilson who confirmed they were fabricated, with different formatting and fonts.’

Fleming admitted a charge under the VAT Act between May 2007 and July 2013. He was said to owe £93,000 after returning some of the money. Sheriff Alastair Carmichael deferred sentence until next month for reports and granted bail.