Flooring boss hid £150000 cash in VAT fraud

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Wayne Larry Poole, 44, attempted to steal almost £150,000 in VAT fraud by running an unregistered business and billing for VAT without being VAT registered by using a fake VAT number on the invoices he sent to customers.

HM Revenue and Customs investigators arrested Poole in June 2013 following a simultaneous search of his home at that time in Tilbury, Essex, and registered business address in East Grinstead, West Sussex.

The investigators found Several years worth of sales records for his  undeclared business that were found at his trading address, along with £135,000 in cash hidden in an airing cupboard at his home address.

Further investigations revealed that Poole was operating another unregistered business in Staffordshire and that he was using a fake VAT registration number on his invoices to avoid paying the full amount of tax.

He also claimed that the cash in the airing cupboard was the winnings from gambling in London casinos. Investigations proved that this was another lie.

He claimed that all of these issues were just clerical errors but this also turned out to be a lie.

The cash was seized under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and was ordered forfeit to HMRC on 13 October 2015 by the City of London Magistrates Court.

David Margree, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, commented saying : “Poole blatantly spun a web of lies in an attempt to hide the true extent of his fraud.

“He was greedy, using the money to line his own pockets and giving himself an unfair advantage over his competitors.

“He has now paid the price for his fraudulent activity through gaining a criminal record and forfeiting the seized cash.”