LONDON: Tax official has said victims of a near-£1m fraud are being helped.
John Cooper, HM Revenue and Customs’ assistant director of criminal investigation, said the agency is working with people who thought their tax had been paid when it had been kept by a business owner.
Michael Scott, 63, of Grovebury, Locks Heath, was convicted by a jury at Southampton Crown Court and jailed for five and a half years.
Scott cheated more than 180 employees by deducting Pay As You Earn income tax and National Insurance Contributions from the salaries of his workers, but failed to declare and pay the money.
The HMRC investigation discovered the criminality ran between April 2007 and November 2011.
Mr Cooper said: ‘Michael Scott brazenly robbed his employees and lined his own pockets at the expense of the wider taxpaying public.
‘Tax was deducted and shown on payslips but the money was not handed over to HMRC, leading to gaps in employees’ tax records. HMRC is working with the victims of this fraud to correct their tax and contributions records.’
People with information about fraud can call the Tax Evasion Hotline on 0800 788 887.
