A former bus driver has been jailed for 16 months after steering his own £190,000 tax fraud.
Richard Cusick, 31, from the east end of Glasgow, submitted false VAT repayments claims over two years, a HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation found.
The former bus driver set up Discount Business Utilities Ltd in 2015 – but when he was made bankrupt and no longer eligible to be a company director, he created a fictitious director called Robert Gallacher to take control of the business.
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Acting under his alias, Cusick received a total of £190,000 by making false repayment claims before asking to deregister his company for VAT – which HMRC queried.
Instead of admitting the fraud, Cusick submitted more false repayment claims.
When HMRC compliance officers visited ”Robert Gallacher” in October 2017, Cusick revealed his true identity and admitted his company had never traded. All of his VAT returns, documents and invoices were false. He was later charger with VAT fraud.
Cheryl Burr, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “The stolen tax in this case is equivalent to the annual salaries of eight ambulance technicians’ in Scotland. Our taxes should be funding our vital public services not lining the pockets of criminals like Cusick.
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“HMRC will continue to pursue criminals who attack the tax system and we ask anyone with information about suspected VAT fraud to contact us online or call our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”
Cusick pleaded guilty to the evasion of VAT between May 2015 and July 2017 at Glasgow Sheriff Court on 3 April 2019 and was sentenced to 16 months in jail when he appeared before the same court today.
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