Businessman jailed for Tax Fraud of about £100,000

Businessman Sumair Iqbal, aged 35, of Everton in Liverpool, was jailed for 28 months after he fraudulently evaded around £100,000 in tax.

He cheated the Exchequer out of the money by massively underestimating the turnover of his two security firms.

Iqbal was the director of Pulsive Security Solutions and Correx Consultants, two Liverpool-based companies that provided security guards and other security services for companies across the UK.

Between June 2012 and May 2017, Iqbal told HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that the two companies had a turnover of around £249,292. It was actually four times that amount.

He had signed up to the Flat Rate Scheme with HMRC that was aimed at making tax payments simpler for smaller businesses.

After being accepted for the scheme, he massively under-declared his companies’ income and paid just £29,915 in tax between 2012 and 2017.

Investigators determined that he had not declared around £124,000.

The businessman was also taking advantage of Bibby Factors. The company bought invoices from Iqbal for 80% of their value and took over the right to recover the full amount from his customers.

This gave Iqbal instant payments for the services he had provided, without him needing to wait 30 to 90 days for his customers to pay up.

Investigations revealed that he had employed two sets of accountants in recent years.

However, both companies had terminated their dealings with him as he had not provided his company information correctly and failed to reveal that he was under investigation by HMRC.

In November 2017, Iqbal was brought in for questioning at St Anne’s police station.

He claimed he was under financial pressure, had made mistakes and had been threatened. He said the pressure had caused him mental health problems.

On November 18, 2019, at Liverpool Crown Court, Iqbal pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulently evading Value Added Tax (VAT).

Senior Crown Prosecutor Maqsood Khan, of CPS Mersey Cheshire’s Fraud Unit, said:

“Sumair Iqbal thought the normal rules that everybody else has to abide by did not apply to him.

“He was running two successful and profitable businesses yet consistently failed to tell the truth to HMRC.”

“Taxes support the provision of services across our society. Those who do not pay what they owe take that money from us all.

“Iqbal tried to dodge the taxman for several years and tried to blame his accountants for his problems when he was brought in for questioning.

“He has now been jailed and his reputation as a businessman is in tatters.”

On June 5, 2020, Iqbal was jailed for 28 months. He was also banned from being a company director for five years.