Man jailed for 17 years for £34m tax frauds

A MAN who conned tax
officials out of £34 million has been jailed for 17 years, one of the longest sentences in British criminal history for fraud.

Thomas Scragg, 56, of Hockley Heath, West Midlands, was handed the prison sentence after being convicted of three fraud offences against HM
Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

The latest, in March last year, was for stealing millions of pounds in employee PAYE tax, following a joint investigation by West Midlands Police and HMRC.

The extent of Scragg’s racket has remained a secret until now, as cases against his two co-defendants – Carl and Anthony Johnson, from Wolverhampton – progressed through court, West Midlands Police said.

But the brothers’ convictions yesterday for money-laundering has lifted reporting restrictions on his criminal empire.

Scragg used his business, Moya Payroll, which managed staff wages of construction industry companies, to steal over £26m in tax between 2002 and 2007.

His co-defendant, Paul Phillips, 60, of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, was jailed for nine years.

A further police investigation uncovered £8m of stolen
PAYE tax in a ten-month period from April 2007 to February 2008.