Former British Amateur Golf Champion Convicted of Huge Tax Fraud

Welsh-born Manchester millionaire Duncan Evans, a former British amateur golf champion, has been jailed for four years for masterminding a £3.5m tax scam.

A former BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year, 50 year old Evans was involved in an elaborate VAT fraud known as ’missing trader fraud’, which allowed him to live a lavish lifestyle at taxpayers’ expense.

’Missing trader fraud’ involves fraudsters taking advantage of the fact VAT is not charged on the sale of goods between VAT- registered companies based in different European countries. Evans would therefore buy goods from other countries then claim against huge sums of VAT that were never liable or paid.

Manchester Crown Court heard how he fed the cash into offshore bank accounts in Hong Kong and used it to buy multi-million pound properties in the north west.

Evans splashed out £1.2m in 2002 on Deansgreen Hall in Lymm, Cheshire, before selling it for £3.5m just a year later; he also spent £195,000 on a Rolls Royce.

HM Revenue & Customs have already seized assets worth in excess of £5m, and are now seeking further sums under the Money Laundering Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Kevin Kinsella, Chief Executive of Kinsella Tax Limited, explains “Money that has been scammed in any way becomes contaminated. Any assets purchased using that money, or honest money which it has been mixed with, are also contaminated.”

“Therefore, if the marital home has been purchased using a combination of dirty money and clean money, the court has the ability to seize that asset.”

A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs, said: “Organised crime groups will stop at nothing in their bid to build vast portfolios of cash, properties, performance cars and other luxury items at the expense of the British taxpayer"

Evans was previously jailed for three years in 2003 for his involvement in a similar fraud, along with notorious gang member Ray Woolley, known as `Riviera Ray’.

Kinsella Tax Limited specialise in investigating UK and European tax fraud on behalf of individual taxpayers and solicitors involved in tax fraud cases. The company has over 120 years’ experience of the tax investigation industry and operates nationwide. For more information, visit their website at: http://www.kinsellatax.co.uk/.

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Chloé Faulkner

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Kinsella Tax Ltd

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