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Builder told to repay £140k now or stay in jail and pay later

8 Nov 17 A Dorset builder who evaded more than £128,000 in tax has been ordered to repay criminal profits of £141,453 within three months or remain in prison for a further 18 months and still owe the money.

Carlo Russell
Carlo Russell

Carlo Russell, 51, was jailed for 28 months in June 2017 for evading value added tax (VAT), income tax and national insurance contributions from his job as a self-employed builder and carpenter. The court heard that he used the money to help buy two local properties mortgage-free, instead of paying the tax to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Richard Wilkinson, assistant director of HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said: “It is important that we stop criminals profiting from their crimes and recover the money to fund public services. Russell is already serving a prison sentence and if he doesn’t pay back what he owes, he will spend even more time behind bars – and still owe the money.”

Despite trading over the VAT threshold, Russell failed to register for or pay VAT. He also failed to register under the construction industry scheme (CIS) for the occasions he employed subcontractors to work on building projects.

Carlo Russell pleaded guilty to the offences, which took place between April 2007 and April 2015. He was jailed at Bournemouth Crown Court on 12th June 2017. The confiscation hearing took place at the same court on 3rd November 2017.

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MPU
MPU

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