BUTCHERS JAILED

3 Feb 2006 04:45 PM

Two butchers who pleaded guilty to tax fraud have been sentenced to 10 months imprisonment following an investigation by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Company Directors Paul Andrew Young, 40, and Eammon Curley, 41, of E & P Catering Butchers Ltd pleaded guilty at Coventry Crown Court to failing to record the total amount of sales in the books and records of the business, leading to a tax loss of £125,720.

Following an application under the Criminal Justice Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act, the Judge awarded a confiscation order for £325,084. This reflects not only the tax loss, but the cash deliberately concealed from the company accounts. The Directors must pay the confiscation order within six months or face a default sentence of 27 months imprisonment.

Summing up Judge Eccles said:

"The liability evaded was a significant case of fraud and cheat against HM Revenue & Customs. You carried it out over a period of five years, week in week out. You used taxpayers money to fund the growth of the business. "

Curley and Young were arrested on 7 October 2003 by West Midlands Police assisted by officers of HMRC. When interviewed under caution they admitted that they had raised cash invoices and that the invoices had been excluded from the books and records of the company. They deliberately concealed the existence of the cash invoices from their bookkeeper and accountants, by destroying the cash records.

HM Revenue & Customs Financial Investigator Richard Boyes said:

"We will always seek a Confiscation Order in criminal cases for the full amount due in law. The purpose of the legislation is to deprive criminals of the benefit of their crimes. The Proceeds of Crime Act has given us new ways of taking back assets derived from crime and we are committed to using these powers to ensure that crime doesn't pay."

This case was successfully prosecuted by the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO). RCPO is an independent prosecuting authority, which reports to the Attorney General, and is responsible for the prosecution of all HMRC cases in England and Wales.

Notes for editors
1. Paul Andrew Young. Date of Birth 16/09/65, Coventry.

2. Eammon Curley. Date of Birth 02/09/64, Coventry.

3. Nature of Offences: Cheating the Public Revenue by failing to record the total amount of sales in the books and records of the business.

4. Company details: E & P Catering Butchers Ltd of Unit 3, Bishopsgate business Park, Widdrington Road, Coventry, CV1 4NA

5. The Revenue & Customs Prosecution Office (RCPO) was created by Royal Assent on 7 April 2005. An independent prosecuting authority, RCPO reports directly to the Attorney General, and is responsible for prosecuting some of the largest drug and fraud cases in the UK.

Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Media Relations Team

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