Accountancy Magazine
Accountant jailed for £16m VAT scam
Fraudsters sentenced to 19 years in total
02 February 2010
Three men including an accountant have been sentenced to 19 years in total for their role in a £16m VAT scam.
Accountant Stewart Collins, 52, was given a six-year sentence - while Philip Foster received a five-year and three-month sentence, and Costas Sophocleous was given an eight-year and three-month jail term - at Isleworth Crown Court.
Foster and Sophocleous pleaded guilty to falsely claiming funds from HM Revenue & Customs, while Collins, who denied cheating the public revenue was found guilty by a jury last year.
Sophocleous set up a company called Eastway Construction in 1996, pretending it was to be a firm specialising in new housing developments, which are exempt from VAT payments when they are sold on.
Judge Martin Edmunds told Collins: It's an aggravating factor that you used your professional status as an accountant to give cover to this fraud.
Accountant Stewart Collins, 52, was given a six-year sentence - while Philip Foster received a five-year and three-month sentence, and Costas Sophocleous was given an eight-year and three-month jail term - at Isleworth Crown Court.
Foster and Sophocleous pleaded guilty to falsely claiming funds from HM Revenue & Customs, while Collins, who denied cheating the public revenue was found guilty by a jury last year.
Sophocleous set up a company called Eastway Construction in 1996, pretending it was to be a firm specialising in new housing developments, which are exempt from VAT payments when they are sold on.
Judge Martin Edmunds told Collins: It's an aggravating factor that you used your professional status as an accountant to give cover to this fraud.
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