A mobile phone wholesaler has been slapped with an 11-year ban from being a company director after being involved in a cunning plan to get more than £2 million in VAT refunds.
The Insolvency Service branded Shiraz Ahmed, director of Ealing-based G Comm “a stain on the public purse”.
The High Court disqualified him as a director for 11 years for participating in “contrived transactions with a view to gaining VAT refunds of over £2 million”.
Ahmed was involved in missing trader intra community (MTIC) fraud, more commonly known as carousel fraud, which consists of large amounts of electrical items being invoiced rapidly and repeatedly around trading supply chains.
G Comms was wound up in 2013, following an investigation by a specialist team at the Insolvency Service into unpaid VAT owed to HMRC. Ahmed was disqualified until the 26 July 2027. He cannot promote, manage or be the director of a limited company during that time.
Paul Titherington, official receiver in the Public Interest Unit of the Insolvency Service, said:
“This type of VAT fraud is very serious and a high priority for HMRC and the Insolvency Service. MTIC fraud has been a great strain on the public purse and has cost the taxpayer many billions of pounds in fraudulent VAT claims. The Insolvency Service is committed to making directors account for their actions.”
