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Fake tax agent jailed for £1m tax fraud

News Release issued by the COI News Distribution Service on 09 September 2011

A man who set up fake tax agent companies to steal more than £1m through a self-assessment tax fraud was jailed at the Old Bailey today for two years, following a complex investigation by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

South African Lawrence Goldberg, 47, registered more than 50 companies at virtual offices throughout the UK to pose as nominated tax agents. He hijacked innocent people’s identities and invented other people using their details to send thousands of fraudulent tax returns to HMRC. At the height of his criminal operations, Goldberg was sending in around 500 false tax returns a week to claim millions of pounds in fraudulent repayments.

Goldberg cleaned his criminal cash by transferring it to offshore accounts. HMRC investigators prevented around £4 million being paid out fraudulently and identified over 2,000 false tax returns and 51 bogus tax agents. As soon as HMRC officers had identified Goldberg’s fraud the majority of the false returns were identified at tax offices and weren’t processed.

He originally ran the fraud from a maisonette in West London but, fearing arrest, Goldberg skipped the country, transferring his criminal operation to Portugal and then going on the run to South Africa. He was extradited in April this year and pleaded guilty two months later.

John Pointing, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said:

“This was fraud against public funds on a huge scale. HMRC will not stand by while crooks like Goldberg steal money paid by honest taxpayers that is needed for vital services in our communities. The extra £900m being invested in HMRC by the government will help us step up the fight against criminals and stamp out tax fraud.”

Notes to editors

1. Details of defendant: Lawrence Goldberg, DOB 24/1/1964, of Johannesburg, South Africa. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to cheat the Revenue.

2. Goldberg was sentenced to four years; due to time spent on remand in a South African prison, this was reduced to a two year sentence.

3. Goldberg attempted to steal around £5m; around £4m of this was withheld by HMRC.

4. In March 2008 Goldberg was arrested and charged by the South African authorities in relation to a suspected South African bank fraud. He remained there on remand until February 2011 when all charges against him were dismissed. He was then arrested in relation to his UK tax fraud and on 5 April 2011 was extradited to the UK in the first ever such extradition between the two countries.

5. If anyone has any information to report to HMRC about any individuals or businesses that may be evading their tax, please contact the tax evasion hotline by calling 0800 788 887 or via the website www.hmrc.gov.uk/tax-evasion.

6. To view the photographs associated with this release, please use the link below:
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=421146&NewsAreaID=2&ClientID=257

7. Follow HMRC on Twitter @HMRCgovuk.

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Contacts:

HM Revenue & Customs Press Office
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Sara Pont
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sara.pont@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

HMRC Out of Hours
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NDS.HMRC@coi.gsi.gov.uk