Tasejad Hussain Jeffrey, who bought the title ‘Lord of Knightsbridge’ in 2006, has been convicted of £778,000 in VAT fraud after being declared dead by his brother in an attempt to distract investigators.
Jeffrey, aged 32 from Blackburn proceeded to set up an umbrella company called the Jeffrey International Group. The company had a variety of front companies which he used to make false VAT repayment claims. He did this reportedly to finance the spiralling costs of running his own airline, Global Spirit Airlines, which had taken over the route from Manchester Airport to Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, and was the first Lancashire airline to do so.
Most of the money that was claimed fraudulently was transferred to Subthain Hussain, his brother in Dubai. When HM Revenue & Customs traced the money to his brother in Dubai they were told that Jeffrey had died – a fact that was untrue and delayed the investigation by one month. In fact Jeffrey was suffering from a rare illness, Barrett’s Esophagus, which made it difficult to eat or drink.
The fraudulent claims were made between 2005 and 2009 when the umbrella company falsely claimed VAT of £778,000 plus a further £310,000 which was disallowed. The fake companies used to claim false VAT repayments included fast food outlets, the airline and even real estate companies.
The participants in this elaborate scheme have all been punished with the relevant jail terms or given community orders and curfews. HM Revenue & Customs is making it very clear that fraudsters such as these will be caught and punished, and are tackling fraud and tax evasion seriously.
All contractors who operate through genuine umbrella companies should still take care to retain all their receipts for expenses claimed; this will help ensure they abide by the relevant legislation.
