Another pair of Chelsea fraudsters bite the dust
The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, as we’ve repeatedly pointed out, attracts criminals and the case of the latest dodgy pair to come to our attention won’t surprise many of our readers sadly. Meet Emmanuel and Behnaz Scotts, a duo who funded a “high rolling lifestyle” via a £280,000 VAT fraud whilst claiming benefits at the same time.
This week, Mr and Mrs Scotts – who lived in Chelsea Harbour and claimed £1,750 per year in child benefit, £64.30 a week in jobseekers’ allowance and £2,760 per month in housing benefits – were told to pay back some £55,000 to HM Revenue and Customs or serve a further 15 months in jail at a confiscation hearing.
Sentenced to a combined five and a half years at the Old Bailey in 2012, this greedy pair of fraudsters funded their lifestyle by purchasing goods at three different Chanel boutiques in London. Each purchase would be returned to a different store where a refund or exchange would be granted along with VAT export claim forms for good they hadn’t purchased.
Robert Alder, assistant director for criminal investigation at HMRC commented:
“Emmanuel and Behnaz Scotts were professional fraudsters and thought they were too clever to fail”.
“They passed themselves off as high rollers and spent large sums of criminal cash in expensive boutiques and at casinos. But their glamorous lifestyle was a sham, funded at the expense of the taxpayer”.
“Our investigations do not stop on sentencing – we pursue the money stolen to reclaim it for the country’s finances”.
We hope that a certain someone known to a wide number of our readers takes note.
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