T in Park security chief jailed for fraud

David Stewardson, 56, from Mayfield in Midlothian, admitted VAT and income tax fraud to the tune of more than £1 million between 23 December 2004 and 6 July 2009, HM Revenue and Customs said.

The tax department said Stewardson, appearing before Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday, was jailed for three years and nine months.

He pleaded guilty in August 2011 to fraudulently evading more than £1m in VAT and income tax.

Stewardson falsified company invoices by using a cancelled VAT number and took VAT from customers, which he then pocketed.

He also admitted fraudulently claiming welfare benefits during the four-and-a-half years he was involved in the fraud.

His firm, Westcoast, provided security at the T in the Park, Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds festivals, as well as the Southampton boat show and the Ideal Homes shows.

In the sentencing statement released by the Scottish Judiciary, the sheriff said: “It is clear that you were specially and cynically selected for this task by criminals who have defrauded the public of a seven-figure sum in taxes. You have admitted defrauding the authorities over a four-and-a-half-year period of well over £1m in VAT, income tax, national insurance contributions and income support.

“You allowed yourself to be used as a front for a security company known as Westcoast and used your bank account to receive cheques totalling in excess of £3.2m which you withdrew in cash as soon as possible, to the tune of £25,000 per week, and paid these sums, apparently on orders from people you have chosen not to name, to intermediaries whereby the money cannot be traced by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

“In return, you were apparently paid £150 a week in cash and failed to declare this income to the Department for Work and Pensions, whereby you obtained £14,296.14 of benefit by fraud.”

The sheriff added: “Unlike many in such circumstances, your involvement was not a one-off incident or covering a short period of time. You operated this deception for over four-and-a-half years and siphoned a substantial amount of money into the black economy, with the consequence that a significant amount of money was lost to the public in tax revenue.

“I find it astonishing that the banks handling your accounts, namely the Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank, did not bring to the attention of the authorities at a much earlier stage the unusual and deeply suspicious way in which you operated these accounts, withdrawing large sums of cash on a regular basis as soon as cheques had been cleared.

“There is no other sentence which the court can impose for such a scale of public fraud than a custodial one.”

HMRC’s John Fitzcharles said: “Stewardson was involved in a sophisticated scam to obtain VAT payments illegally from his customers.

“He didn’t pay a penny in tax while the business was operating under his ownership, yet he continued to claim state benefits.

“He had no difficulty using public-funded services, but didn’t feel the need to contribute to them.”

Mr Fitzcharles said the HMRC was “committed to protecting public finances from attacks by criminals trying to steal vast amounts of money”.

l Anyone with information about any suspicious activities should call the Customs’ hotline on 0800 59 5000, e-mail [email protected] or fax on 0800 5280506.