A London Chartered accountant has been jailed for 15 months after being found guilty of using fake invoices, charged officially with ‘Cheating the Public Revenue,’ on 14th January 2016.
The accountant, Gerald Hyam, 72, very well established in his field, worked from his office located in Grosvenor Square.
He scammed £86,000 worth of VAT from two bogus invoices claiming to have provided a service that he did not. Gerald received VAT payments from both invoices in 2011.
Hm Revenue investigated these documents, resulting an accusation of fraud when Mr.Hyam could not explain the source of the invoices.
“As a chartered accountant Hyam knew better that to attempt this type of fraud. When we interviewed him, he claimed that he had no income and that he was living off loans and family hand-outs, but in reality he was trying to line his pockets with money destined for public services. His career and reputation are now in tatters as he pays the price for his
crime, said Jo Tyler, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC.”
“Anyone with information on suspected tax fraud should contact our hotline on 0800 59 5000.”
Along with his 15 year sentence, the fraudster accountant has been suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work – and disqualified from acting as company director for two years.