Forger carried out VAT fraud to repay profits seized by court
A MAN who carried out a £180,000 VAT fraud to repay money he had previously made forging cash has been jailed.
John Farrell, 61, used fake passports and driving licences to set up bogus companies and bank accounts to fraudulently claim VAT repayments.
A HMRC investigation found that he laundered £75,000 through a bogus Cypriot account then used it to pay most of a £96,000 confiscation order imposed after he was jailed in 2009 for running a counterfeit banknote operation.
Farrell, from Thorntonhall, Lanarkshire, was jailed for 27 months when he appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday.
He pleaded guilty to VAT fraud and money laundering at a previous appearance last month.
Farrell, who owned a £1million home and luxury cars, admitted transferring £75,000 into bank accounts and using it to pay his High Court confiscation order.
HMRC began investigating the bogus companies after concerns were raised about the VAT claims.
In 2012, suspicions were raised about three companies linked to the same bank account.
An officer visited Farrell, who was using the name Andrew Strachan.
Prosecutor Gerard Drugan said his false identity was exposed when the HMRC officer later recognised him from a Press photo of John Farrell.
In July 2009, Farrell had been sentenced to five years and eight months for making fake notes at EWM Solutions, in East Kilbride.
He was later handed a £96,000 confiscation order.
His son Craig, 32, had also admitted making the notes and was jailed for two years and nine months.
HMRC said Farrell then stole £180,591 by claiming VAT repayments for several bogus companies between 2011 and 2012.
He laundered £75,000 through the bogus Cypriot company account before using it to pay part of the confiscation order in three instalments of £25,000 to Hamilton Sheriff Court.
Farrell’s home was searched by HMRC in June 2013, where more than 24 mobiles, laptops, memory cards and false passports were seized.
A bag containing a laptop, paperwork relating to the bogus firms, prepaid credit cards and phone sim cards was found hidden in the eaves of the mansion, while a false driving licence with his photograph was discovered on an electronic device.
Passing sentence, Sheriff Andrew Cubie told Farrell the fraud seemed to be ‘driven by a feeling of entitlement’.
Cheryl Burr, assistant director of HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said his actions were due to ‘pure greed’.
She added: ‘He then had the cheek to use the proceeds of this fraud to repay a confiscation order imposed on him.’
Last month Michael Mullen, 41, an associate of Farrell, admitted owning or controlling registered addresses for false businesses to facilitate the commission of VAT fraud.
Yesterday Mullen, from Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, was sentenced to a Community Payback Order and a Restriction of Liberty Order.
‘A feeling of entitlement’