Three conmen who tried to defraud the taxman out of £1.9m by pretending to promote Dubai tourism have been jailed.
The businessmen set up a sham company and approached various firms claiming they had a £15m budget from Dubai’s Department of Tourism to promote the country.
When the company, Wilnecote Hall Marketing, sold advertising space to the duped firms, it asked for invoices that remained unpaid but instead were used to support VAT claims of £1.9m.
However there was no contract and no money from the Dubai authorities.
HMRC became suspicious when the newly-registered company submitted the huge VAT repayment claim in April 2011, despite having an estimated turnover of only £1 million a year.
Further enquiries revealed that ringleaders Stephen Key, aged 51, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, and Phillip Charman, aged 32, from Swadlincote, Derbyshire, had set up WHM to approach several major UK-based businesses to buy advertising space.
In February Charman, Key and his son Jack, 22, were found guilty of fraud at Stafford Crown Court after pleading not guilty.
On Friday Charman was sentenced to five years in prison, and banned from acting as a director for seven years; Stephen Key was jailed for six years and banned from acting as a director for eight years while his son was jailed for three and a half years.
Colin Booker, assistant director, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), said: "The group hoodwinked honest companies into thinking they were genuine agents for the Dubai tourism industry. These businesses were fooled by highly professional pitches and a contract that appeared authentic. They too were victims of fraud."
