Owner of fire breach wedding venue is jailed for VAT fraud
BUSINESSMAN ALREADY BEHIND BARS FOR ‘FLAGRANT’ DISREGARD OF SAFETY RULES AT HALL
THE owner of an exclusive Cheshire wedding venue has been jailed for VAT fraud.
Businessman Mohammed Isaq, from Hale Barns, is already serving a 20-month prison sentence for ‘flagrant’ disregard of fire safety rules at Haslington Hall near Crewe.
The Grade I-listed country house dates back to the 14th century and it is believed early building works included timbers salvaged from ships of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Isaq, 59, was jailed in June this year after Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service found he had continued to host weddings and offer overnight stays, despite warnings that safety breaches were putting lives at risk.
Now Isaq has been back in the dock to admit tax fraud.
HMRC investigators found he submitted a false VAT repayment claim of £28,478 using bogus information supplied by friend Andrew Tomlinson.
Isaq said the VAT repayment claim was for services provided by Manor Design and Build and provided two invoices. But the invoices contained bogus VAT and Companies House numbers.
Investigators found Tomlinson was the director of Manor Design and Build, which was dissolved in 2009.
Tomlinson, who was also a director of a linen company that supplied Haslington Hall, initially denied any wrongdoing but later admitted supplying information to Isaq to help him create the phoney VAT invoices.
Isaq, of Davenport Green Hall, Hale Barns, was sentenced to 26 weeks in jail at Manchester Crown Court.
Tomlinson, 43, of Manor Close, Cheadle Hulme, was sentenced to a community order of 100 hours of unpaid work. Both admitted tax fraud.
Tim Atkins, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Isaq and Tomlinson concocted a lie to try and steal money from the public purse. They knew what they were doing was wrong and their greed has landed Isaq time behind bars and Tomlinson with a community order.
“Tax fraud takes funding from our public services and cheats the honest majority who do the right thing. We ask anyone with information about suspected tax fraud to contact HMRC online or call our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”