Highland golf club owner and PGA professional stole £150k in tax and tried to back up fraud with fake invoices for lawn mower, herbicide and sand mix

The owner of a Highland golf club has been jailed for stealing more than £150,000 in tax.

Jon Wiggett, 51, of Conon Bridge, submitted 13 false VAT repayment claims between 2014 and 2017, a HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation found.

Wiggett, the owner of Brahan Golf club, near Dingwall, tried to back up his fraud with dozens of fake invoices which he presented as proof for buying a lawn mower, hundreds of bottles of herbicide and sand mixture for his club.

The PGA professional pleaded guilty to VAT fraud at Inverness Sheriff Court in February this year.

The owner of Brahan Golf club tried to back up his fraud with dozens of fake invoices which he presented as proof for buying a lawn mower, hundreds of bottles of herbicide and sand mixture for his club. Pic: Google

On Monday, he was sentenced to 15 months in jail.

Cheryl Burr, assistant director of HMRC Fraud Investigation Service, said: “Wiggett stole the equivalent of five police constables’ salaries in Scotland. This was money that should have been funding vital public services.”

Anyone with information about people involved in tax fraud should call the HMRC fraud hotline on 0800 788 887 or contact them online.

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