Thatcham tiling company boss jailed for fiddling company accounts

Forty-five-year-old Robert Nixon, of Gould Close, Newbury, a director of UK Tiling Ltd, gave his bookkeeper a series of false invoices during 2011 that were then submitted to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to obtain a VAT repayment of £37,500, Reading Crown Court heard on Friday, March 1.
The court also heard that in early 2012 he went on to create fake invoices to reclaim a further £19,200 VAT refund, but this attempt failed.
He admitted five counts of fraud and Judge Zoe Smith, sentencing Nixon to eight months in jail, told him: “Revenue fraud is a serious offence. The public must realise we have to be honest when dealing with the Revenue.”
Nixon must also pay court costs of £983.
After the case HMRC assistant director John Cooper said: “Robert Nixon hoodwinked his bookkeeper by providing false information, but HMRC was not fooled.
“Businesses that pay what is due, when it is due can be reassured by our determination to take action against those who cheat. We will continue to use all our resources to identify and deal with fraudsters.”