7:00pm Wednesday 1st July 2009
By Julie Magee
A COMPANY director who illegally reclaimed £312,000 in VAT has been jailed for two and a half years.
Dorset-based fraudster Timothy Carron Brown admitted an offence of cheating the public revenue between 2001 and 2005.
The fraud involved Carron Brown, 52, from Poundbury, Dorchester, submitting VAT repayment claims in relation to four VAT registered limited companies.
The claims were not legitimate and he was not entitled to the repayments.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard how the father-of-three had used a number of methods to perpetrate the fraud including reusing invoices for which he had already claimed VAT, submitting false invoices and records and trading between his own companies to reclaim tax on purchases but not accounting for the corresponding sale.
“Nil” returns were rendered once Revenue and Customs officers launched an investigation into the companies.
The court was told how Carron Brown, who was declared bankrupt last month at Weymouth County Court, had forked out £48,000 for private school fees for his sons and lived in rented accommodation.
In his defence, Peter Henry said his client had “fragile mental health” and had lost the respect of his family and friends.
He had no previous convictions and had entered a guilty plea.
Sentencing Carron Brown and banning him from being a company director for eight years, Judge John Harrow told him: “I take the view that you invested a substantial amount of time and energy into the business ventures.
“The companies were set up for a legitimate purpose. However you exploited the VAT system.
“This was taxpayers’ money and, despite what was said, it did have a degree of sophistication.”
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