Leicester fraudster helped to steal £3m from taxpayer
Leicester | 2 months ago
By Ali Baker
A businessman from Leicester was found by the High Court to have played a role in defrauding the Government of over £3 million in taxes. Court documents reveal that nearly £823,000 of this amount, which was intended to be paid as VAT, was instead deposited into Kiran Mistry's personal bank account.
The court has revealed that Mistry, a former insolvency practitioner, has a history of legal issues. In 2012, he was banned from serving as a company director for 12 years, and in a separate case in 2016, he was convicted of conspiracy to defraud. The current case was initiated by the liquidators of Lime and Black BPS Ltd, a company that owes £3.12 million to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Mistry was determined to be acting as a de facto director of the company despite his ban, a claim he denied by stating that his role involved only payroll and pension services through his accounting firm, Fairplay.
Judge David Mohyuddin KC ruled that Mistry’s involvement went beyond mere services, identifying him as a de facto director due to his significant role in the company's formation, administration of its pension scheme, and handling of payments. The judge noted that Mistry's actions, when considered together with the company's lax governance, were indicative of a directorial capacity. Furthermore, the judge dismissed Mistry’s assertions regarding payments he received, stating that there was no legitimate agreement for professional services.
Additionally, the court discovered that Mistry operated under two aliases, Tony and Kiran Das, to obscure his past when potential clients might search for his real name. The judge stated that this behavior reflected Mistry's intent to present a misleading image of himself. He also found that Mistry was likely aware of the company’s VAT obligations, emphasizing that the VAT fraud involved an under-declaration of output tax, which Mistry had knowledge of through his invoice preparations.
The total judgment debt, including costs, amounts to approximately £2.5 million, accruing interest at 4 percent annually until it is paid off. Mistry has been ordered to make an interim payment of around £540,000. A separate case involving Dharminder Singh Gill, who was the sole director of Lime and Black BPS, led to a default judgment against him and two of his companies, requiring an interim payment of £1.2 million. Lime and Black BPS, which was established in March 2020, provided payment processing and payroll services but went into voluntary liquidation in March 2022 after HMRC obtained a freezing order over tax payment concerns. Steve Illes from MHA expressed satisfaction with the outcome, stating it would facilitate the repayment of some losses incurred by HMRC.
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