Company director Paul Marsh, 63, admitted making three fraudulent VAT declarations to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for his company Draco Consulting Services, which reduced the amount of tax owed by £1.3m. He used the money he stole to prop up his other company, Marlin Resources UK Ltd, which was in financial difficulty.
He was jailed for four years and three months.
Richard Young, assistant director in HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said: “Marsh was naive to think he could get away with this fraud. He was using the tax system like a private bank loan, to prop up his second business, which was struggling financially.”
Although both companies went into voluntary liquidation in December 2008, investigations discovered that £150,000 had been transferred to another of Marsh’s companies.
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