COMPANY DIRECTOR BITES THE DUST FOR TAX FRAUD

23 Dec 2004 02:15 PM

Stephen Lee Bowers, aged 55, Director of Offerton Sand & Gravel Ltd of Stockport Manchester, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to 12 months imprisonment and ordered to pay a 252,977 confiscation order.

The court heard that Bowers had used company money to renovate his family home Shiloh Hall Farm, a farmhouse set in 4 acres of land. In doing so he had taken steps to ensure that the invoices provided by his suppliers gave false or misleading descriptions of the work carried out and passed these off as legitimate business expenditure through his company.

The case was taken up by the Inland Revenue's Special Compliance Office, Manchester. The subsequent investigation discovered that more than 161,000 was spent on work at Shiloh Hall Farm,

In his summing up His Hon Judge Jeffery Lewis said:-

"Your problems stem from the purchase of Shiloh Hall Farm and the work carried out on it. Unfortunately the budget over ran and you made the cardinal error of not agreeing a fixed price. You did not sit down with those who could give you proper advice ."

The resulting tax loss was calculated to be 70,000 but with the use of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 and Proceeds Of Crime Act 1995 the benefit to Steven Bowers was in excess of 250,000. This is the amount the judge ordered to be confiscated and to be paid by 31 March 2005. If it is not then Bowers is ordered to serve a further period of 5 years in default.

Inland Revenue spokesman Richard Boyes said,

"The Inland Revenue will always seek a Confiscation Order in criminal cases for the full amount due in law. In certain circumstances the amount confiscated can be significantly more than the tax evaded, as demonstrated in this case".

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. If a person fails to inform the Inland Revenue that he/she is chargeable to tax, he/she may be guilty of an offence under the Taxes Acts. Inland Revenue's Special Compliance Office investigates those cases, which are considered serious enough to warrant criminal prosecution.

2. Inland Revenue operates a selective prosecution policy across the range of offences and in all the areas of law for which it is responsible. The policy is intended to bolster the overall enforcement strategy and the focus is on cases where prosecution will do most to promote compliance with the law by deterring tax, contribution and tax credit fraud.

3. In addition to prosecuting fraudsters, the Inland Revenue will ask the courts for confiscation orders to ensure that crime does not pay. (A confiscation order deprives the convicted criminal of the benefit obtained from the offences and is backed up with an extra prison sentence in default of payment.)

Web: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk

Inland Revenue
Press Office
1 Parliament Street
London SW1A 2BQ

TP33/04