VAT fraudsters who splurged on gold and diamonds jailed

Four businessmen who bought gold bullion and diamonds with money made from a multi-million pound VAT fraud scheme have been jailed.

Leslie Thompson, Graeme Cullen and Graham Newall were convicted of the scheme earlier this year which resulted in the fraudulent evasion of over £8.8m in VAT between September 2015 and June 2017.

Another man, Martin Lang, admitted to more limited involvement in the crime between February and December in 2016 involving £4.8m of tax money.

A judge at the High Court in Edinburgh said the group had committed "sustained dishonesty" over a lengthy period of time.

Lady Hood said the money should have been used to fund, for example, front line services but was instead distributed among the offenders and others.

The offending was aggravated by a link to serious and organised crime.

The men worked for West Lothian-based Linear Services which handled payroll for 27 employment agencies.

During a two-year period, they charged their clients significant amounts for VAT but the money was not paid to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Thompson, 63, of Bathgate, was jailed for seven years while Cullen, 54, of Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, for was jailed for six years.

Newall, 49 of Edinburgh was given a five-and-a-half year sentence and Lang, 68 of Cambuslang, in South Lanarkshire, was sentenced to four years imprisonment.

They were involved in a scheme to charge VAT on invoices to various firms for "payroll services" but instead of the money going to HMRC they siphoned it off and passed some on to associates.

The money also funded the purchase of gold, diamonds and fast cars.

Advocate depute William Frain Bell KC told the men's trial: "The tax collectors in this case were a group of individuals who never had any intention of parting with the VAT."

He said they would get the money "shipped abroad" to buy as much "gold bullion and diamonds as possible".

The prosecutor said: "There were the trips to Malaga, the Grand National, fast cars including Audi RS5s, Range Rovers and Mercedes."

Thompson, who was described as the "kingpin", Cullen and Newall had all denied the offence during their earlier trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Defence counsel Michael Anderson KC, for Thompson, said he continued to maintain that he was innocent.

He said: "He has lost everything, or is about to lose everything. He is about to lose his family home."

Thompson is already serving a six-year sentence after he was jailed at a London court for his role in another VAT fraud scheme.

His wife Beverley was also handed a two-year suspended sentence for her role in the elaborate scam.

Mark Moir KC, for Cullen, said he previously worked for a number of accountancy firms and was assessed as posing a minimum risk of future offending.

John Scullion KC, for Lang, said he had accepted responsibility, co-operated and gave evidence at the trial. The lawyer said his client was not in good health.

Defence counsel Gail Gianni said that Newall was visited by people of "bad character" which started his troubles. He said he was "genuinely remorseful" and recognised he should have involved the police at an early stage.