A director of two Manchester waste management businesses has been jailed for 18 months for stealing more than £250,000 in VAT repayments.
Chaudhry Akbar, 50, of Fairfields Road, Droylesden, used his two businesses to fraudulently claim £253,426 in VAT repayments, an HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) investigation found.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of VAT fraud and money laundering at Manchester Crown Court.
Akbar submitted 36 bogus invoices between 2013 and 2015 while director of Thermal Power and Hyder Engineering (UK). He forged paperwork for purchases for heavy machinery and goods.
HMRC investigators found Akbar tried to hide the cash by passing it through numerous bank accounts.
Tim Atkins, assistant director of HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said: “This was a sustained attempt to steal taxpayers’ money and Akbar was shameless in his greed. He told lie after lie to line his own pockets and then tried to launder the cash so it could not be traced back to him.”
Akbar’s two companies, which provided engineering and waste management services, were liquidated in August 2016.
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