Former city taxman on trial for £190,000 fraud

Published on Tuesday 29 January 2008 16:22

A MAN has gone on trial in Edinburgh charged with defrauding HM Revenue and Customs out of more than £190,000.

Craig Gordon, 36, of Calder Place, Sighthill, has denied that between February 19, 2003, and December 16, 2004, while employed at the HMRC's Lothians 2 Area office in Broomhouse Drive, he formed a fraudulent scheme to obtain money.

The charge against him alleges he set up a company named Capital Tax Services to receive the money, opened a bank account under a false name, and created false income tax repayment claims and processed them for repayment.

He is alleged to have obtained 190,448.20 by the fraud.

Gordon has also pled not guilty to attempting to obtain money from Revenue and Customs between January 1, 2004, and December 16, 2004.

With more than a thousand pieces of evidence and 100 witnesses, the trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court is expected to last three weeks.

Gordon has lodged a special defence of incrimination, claiming that several other people were responsible for the acts not him.