News


downsmail.co.uk £6.9m tax fraudsters jailed


THREE Kent men, including aWest Malling accountant and a Kings Hill construction firm boss, whostole £6.9 million inUKtaxes to fund lifestyles most people can only dream of, have been jailed.


For two and a half years, co-con- spirators Aquil Ahmed (60), an ac- countant from St Leonard’s Street, West Malling; Victor Shearer (43), a construction services company di- rector of Discovery Drive, Kings Hill; and Christopher Azzopardi (37), a payroll administrator from Swanscombe, employed byAhmed, defrauded HM Revenue and Cus- toms (HMRC) of VAT, income tax, national insurance contributions and Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) deductions. These were taxes that workers of companies using thepayroll services thoughtwere being paid to HMRC. The men tried to hide their fraud


by using a complex network of com- panies and bank accounts in theUK and offshore. But their crimes were uncovered by investigators from HMRC. Ahmed employed Christopher Azzopardi to operate payroll serv- ices for clients through his Keepers companies, supposedly calculating wages and paying any tax due through the PAYE and CIS systems. Clients were charged VAT on


Vandals case


VANDALS who cause damage in theAylesford area could have to an- swer to the parish council. When play equipment at Eccles


was broken, the culpritswere identi- fied and visited by the village’s PCSO. The parish council asked for an apology but agreed not to ask for compensation for the £500 repairs. However, it said “a token financial gesture” would bewelcome.


From left, Aquil Ahmed, Victor Shearer and Christopher Azzopardi


these services, but neither the VAT nor the PAYE and CIS deductions were paid across to HMRC. Victor Shearer’s company, Leaner Logistics, supplies short-term con- tractors to the construction industry. Heturned toAhmed’s Keepers com- panies to run his payroll and CIS. Over time, Shearer introduced


other clients to the payroll company, who also used this fraudulent scheme. But rather than pay the tax and National Insurance to HMRC, the three men stole the money to fund Ahmed and Shearer’s lavish lifestyles. Ahmed owned a Bentley, bought properties in the UK, USA and


Turkey and took foreign holidays. The court heard Azzopardi was in debt.Ahmedpaid him about £60,000 a year, double a usual bookkeeper’s wage, for his role in the fraud. No taxwas paid on his salary. Chris Gill, assistant director, Fraud


Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “These criminals thought they had created a sophisticated fraud, and that by operating through numerous UK and offshore companies, they could hide what theywere doing. “But with assistance from author-


ities in Gibraltar, we unravelled the many layers they’d created and they are now paying for their crimes.” Ahmed pleaded guilty to three


counts of cheating the public rev- enue at Maidstone Crown Court. Shearer and Azzopardi were found guilty of three counts of cheating the public revenue after a six-week trial at the same court. Shearer was also found guilty of launderinghis £1.2 millioncutthrough a bank account in Gibraltar. The court heardhowShearerspentvastsumson property, skiing holidays, cars and treating friends and family. Ahmed, Azzopardi and Shearer


were sentenced to seven years eight months, four years and seven years six months imprisonment respec- tively,whenthey appeared at Maid- stone Crown Court. Ahmed and Shearer are both sub-


ject to financial restraint orders.  HMRC and the National Crime Agency (NCA) are aware of a threat of payroll scams possibly operating in the UK, and remind businesses to ensure that they carry out “due dili- gence” checks before appointing a payroll company. Anyone who be- lieves they have information can re- port it at www.hmrc.gov.uk or call 0800 788 887.


Firm plans to expand from new office


FOLLOWING its rebrand, leading automotive industry vehicle data provider Carweb has moved to Kings Hill, with plans to double in size over the next five years. The company, which is part of US-


based Solera, provides technical data to garages and workshops, registra- tion look-up services to the insur- ance, car parking, car sales and hire


FENCING and trees were damaged in school grounds in Norman Road, West Malling. Heating oil was stolen from a tank in the garden of a home in Lavenders Road, West Malling. A vehicle parked in Town Hill, West Malling,was scratched. A vehicle in Ryarsh Lane, West Malling,


was broken into and awalletwas taken. A green Vauxhall Corsa, registration R228


E**,was taken from a driveway inWillowside, Snodland. A blue Eclipse mobility vehicle was stolen


from a driveway in Ashbee Close, Snodland. Aspare wheelwas stolen from under a lorry


while itwas parked overnight at a petrol sta- tion in Malling Road, Snodland.


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sectors aswell as motor industry re- ports, and employs 25 people in its office in Kings HillAvenue. Technical director Barry Clarke


said: “Our move to a new office re- flects the ambitions we have for the business as part of Solera. Over the next five years we plan to increase the number of staff to 50.We didn’t have room for this expansion in our


previous office. Kings Hill developer Liberty Prop-


erty Trust’s managing director, An- drew Blevins, said: “We are delighted Carweb has decided to move here and it is always good to see a company planning to expand. Another advantage of Kings Hill is that its residential population pro- vides a potential workforce.”


NeighbourhoodWatch Working to reduce crime. Call Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 or local police


Wooden pallets were stolen from a com- mercial premises in Sortmill Road, Snodland. Three men were seen loading the pallets into a white Ford Transit van. A vehicle parked in Simpson Road, Snod-


land, had its bodywork damaged. A silver Ford Transit, registration LX62***,


was stolen from Simpson Road, Snodland. AVWTiguan parked in High Street, Snod-


land, was broken into. A Tom Tom sat nav and other itemswere stolen. The rear window was smashed on a Land


Rover parked in Queen’sAvenue, Snodland. APeugot 206 and a Ford Focus parked on a


driveway in Swallow Road, Larkfield, were broken into and a Garmin sat navwas stolen. Awooden gate and benchwere damaged at


the leisure centre in Lunsford Lane, Larkfield. The wing mirror of a car in a car park in Thackeray Road, Larkfield,was stolen. A vehicle was damaged in Mill Street, East Malling.


A window was damaged at a property in


Lavender Road, East Malling. A vehicle in Larkspur Road East Malling


was damaged with spray paint. A Ford Ka parked in Morris Road, East Malling,was keyed. A fencewas set alight twice in one day at a


home in Carnation Close, East Malling. A black Ford Maverick, registration M733


C**, was stolen from a property in Elm Cres- cent, East Malling. Parts were removed from a vehicle parked outside a house in Cork Street,Aylesford. Two vehicle batteries were stolen from a commercial yard by two men in a white Ford Transit van in Forstal Road, Aylesford. The batterieswere recovered. Ten thousand litres of dieselwas stolen from


a compound in Forstal Road, Aylesford. Liquid was thrown on a door at a home in Mackenders Close, Aylesford, damaging the paintwork.


Crime reports


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