A LEICESTERSHIRE restaurant owner has been handed a 28-month jail sentence after failing to declare £165,000 in tax.
A HMRC investigation found that Ozcan Donmez of Braunstone, Leicestershire, hid his wages from working at his Superfry takeaway shop and failed to declare income on two rental properties to his accountant between 2007 and 2014, evading £137,322.50 in income tax.
Donmez also suppressed weekly takings at the takeaway from £100 to £50 a day, escaping £27,677.50 in VAT.
The takeaway owner pleaded guilty income tax and VAT fraud on 23 December 2015 at Leicester Crown Court and on 18 March was sentenced to 28 months in prison.
A confiscation order to recover the proceeds of his crime was also put in place. Donmez must pay back the full amount of his crime within three months or face a further two-and-a-half years in prison.
Stuart Taylor, assistant director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service said:
“Donmez knew full well that he was breaking the law. In doing so he took money away from vital public services and there are no excuses for this type of criminal activity.”