Attempt to seize cash

Evidence in a Proceeds of Crime action against a convicted Crieff fraudster will be heard at Perth Sheriff Court on January 23.

Forty- eight- year- old former potato merchant Scott Coupland was jailed for two- and- a- half years in February after taking part in a £160,000-plus VAT evasion scam.

A jury convicted him of two charges of submitting false tax repayment claims to HM Revenue and Customs and now the authorities are trying to recover some of the cash from him.

Coupland, of Leadenflower Road, Crieff, was unanimously found guilty in January.

A jury took less than an hour to convict the accused, who was the sole director of WDR Coupland Produce Ltd, which operated from business premises in East High Street, Crieff.

Sheriff William Wood told Coupland, who served as a retained firefighter for 18 years, that because of the large sums of money involved only a custodial sentence would be appropriate.

Coupland was found guilty of fraudulently evading paying £120,000 of VAT by submitting false repayment claims between March 2011 and June 2012.

He was also convicted of a second charge involving around £37,000 in 2012.

Coupland claimed his computer had crashed in 2011 and he had to re- enter VAT information for several years, resulting in wrong details being submitted.

The court was told that inquiries were being made regarding a property which was owned by Coupland but subsequently transferred to his wife.

The Crown wanted to find out whether the transfer involved a payment and, if so, where the cash went.

At the latest court hearing Coupland’s solicitor Nicky Brown asked for more time to scrutinise a fresh Proceeds of Crime confiscation order against her client.