23 July 2019
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A former HM Revenue and Customs employee and his brother have been sentenced for VAT fraud and money laundering.
Shapal Yaqoob, 35, ran a car sales company and submitted false information to HMRC to keep £174,500 in VAT. His brother Efzal Yaqoob, who worked for HMRC as a telephone adviser, helped him launder the unreported earnings.
The fraud also enabled Shapal to avoid £7,000 in income tax. Efzal had worked for the revenue collection service for nine years before he resigned following his arrest in 2015.
This is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders"
Efzal Yaqoob laundered £21,630 of the stolen VAT through his personal bank account between July 2012 and August 2014.
Shapal admitted VAT and income tax fraud at Bradford Crown Court on December 1, 2017, and was sentenced to 22 months in prison, suspended for two years, and also ordered to undertake 300 hours of unpaid work, at the same court on July 15, 2019.
Efzal admitted money laundering at Bradford Crown Court on April 26 this year, and was sentenced to six months jail, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.
Eden Noblett, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: "These men were stealing and laundering money which should have been funding public services. This is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders.
"There is no question Efzal should have known better than to think he could get away with laundering stolen money."
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