A former
accountant has been ordered to pay back £2,462,175 following his
conviction in July 2010 for tax fraud. If he does not pay the
money back within 10 months, he faces an extra eight years in jail.
Christos Charalambous, 60, is currently serving an eight-year
prison term after he was convicted of submitting over 6,000
fraudulent Self Assessment tax returns on behalf of his clients.
Charalambous included fictitious expenses claims on the returns
and never showed clients what information he had included. He
would then receive the repayments from HMRC, deduct a minimum of
15 per cent as a fee and then repay the remainder to his clients,
who would not question the amount refunded as they trusted him to
complete the returns correctly.
He also understated the income he received from client fees on
his personal tax returns and failed to register, declare and pay
VAT due on his accountancy firm, Charltons.
The total amount of repayment claimed by Charalambous was £11.2
million HMRC is recovering the rest of the money from former
clients who were given the fraudulent tax rebates.
Robert Alder, Assistant Director Criminal Investigation at HMRC, said:
“We are determined to make sure that crime doesn’t pay. This is
money that belongs in the public purse, and this confiscation
order will ensure it is returned. This clearly shows that tax
evasion and claiming fraudulent tax repayment does not pay.
Working with our colleagues in the Crown Prosecution Service, we
are committed to bringing the criminals responsible for this form
of crime to justice and deny them from being able to retain and
enjoy the proceeds of their crimes.”
Notes to editors
1. Christos Charalambous (60), date of birth 29 July 1951, an
accountant of 56 Norfolk Avenue, Palmers Green, London N13, was
born in Cyprus and moved to the UK in 1970. He was found guilty at
Blackfriars Crown Court on six counts of Cheating the Revenue of
£11.2m on 29 June 2010 and sentenced to eight years.
2. Charalambous has been an accountant for over 30 years. He
was the sole proprietor of Charltons Accountants. From 1979 to
2005, he was a chartered accountant. In November 2005, he was
excluded from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England
and Wales for failing to co-operate with the Inland Revenue.
3. Between 1997 and 2008, Charalambous submitted tax returns
on behalf of his clients and inflated expenses claimed to increase
the tax repayments.
4. Between 1997/98 and 2004/05 he understated client fee
income on his own Self Assessment tax returns of £807,406.67.
5. From 1 January 2000, he failed to register for VAT for his
accountancy practice Charltons, which was liable to VAT of
£180,082.
6. If anyone has any information to report to HM Revenue
& Customs (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.
NAT23/12
Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Press
Office Press enquiries only please contact:
Contacts:
HM Revenue & Customs Press Office
HMRC-Press-office.NDSmanagement@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
Sara Pont
Phone: 020 7147 0394
sara.pont@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
Jonathan Hall
Phone: 020 7147 0052
jonathan.hall@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk
HMRC Out of Hours
Phone: 07860 359544
NDS.HMRC@coi.gsi.gov.uk