Court / Man given 18-month prison sentence for VAT fraud

A BUSINESSMAN who admitted fraudulently obtaining £166,000 from HMRC by submitting fake invoices and bank statements has been given an 18-month prison sentence.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank said Robert Roberts, from Cunningsburgh, obtained the funds through “devious and calculated means”.

He also told Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday that the 44-year-old had defrauded the “public purse” of a substantial sum of money.

Roberts previously admitted submitting doctored papers to HMRC, and claiming personal purchases were for his businesses, over a period of almost two years.

He “manipulated the VAT system” to effectively fraudulently obtain around £166,300 of taxpayer’s money during this time.

Roberts did so by “falsely inflating” the value of some items for VAT purposes, reclaiming personal purchases as business expenses, and putting other purchases which had zero VAT through at 20 per cent VAT before claiming the money back.

To do this, Roberts used Adobe computer software to take “template” invoices and bank statements and falsely doctor them before submitting them to HMRC.

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Lerwick Sheriff Court previously heard his returns raised suspicions with HRMC, and during an email exchange with them he submitted more false documents.

This was flagged up with their fraud investigation team, who confirmed that a “significant number of transactions” had been processed by Roberts fraudulently.

The court heard that after being arrested and presented with the fake documents, Roberts made a full admission.

The 44-year-old made a total of 58 fraudulent transactions between 30 June 2020 and 14 June 2022, Lerwick Sheriff Court previously heard.

The court heard the claims were made through two companies – one company trading as R. Roberts, and another RSM Fishing or RM Fishing Ltd, where Roberts was a director.

Roberts admitted in being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of VAT amounting to a total of £176,388.30, through submitting VAT returns to HMRC that he knew contained false information.

A total of £10,000 was withheld by HMRC, the court was previously told.

Sentencing on Roberts was deferred for a criminal justice social work report, with a warning previously made that he must prepare a clear plan to repay the money or face prison.

At Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday, Roberts’ defence agent Matthew Berlow said his client had come up with a repayment plan which included £15,000 up front.

The plan also included further payments of £2,000 a month.

Berlow also said Roberts, who is said to have been going through difficulties his life around the time of the offence, also had two plots of land that were destined to be developed into housing, with his client undertaking the building work.

He said groundwork was already underway, and that there were people interested in the plots, which are advertised via an estate agent.

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Berlow said this was not a “pie in the sky” situation and said it was very likely the sale of the developments would go through and realise substantial profit which could then be used to repay HMRC.

Arguing against a prison term, Berlow said it was Roberts’ “mission in life” to repay the money.

However, after taking time to consider the sentence, Sheriff Cruickshank said he would “failing in his public duty” if he did not impose a custodial sentence to mark the gravity of the offence.

He noted how the fraud took place over a “lengthy period”.

The sheriff also highlighted that HMRC can also attempt to recover funds through alternative avenues.