Burnley man in £1m fake butcher VAT fraud

Mohammed Ajaib Khan, of Burnley, was one of nine men involved in recovering tax from HMRC for slaughter work they claimed had been carried out at an abattoir in Ossett, West Yorkshire.

Ex-butcher and ringleader Kaiser Matlub (47) of Sheffield, had shared the scam with friends and family, Leeds Crown Court heard.

For a fee, he guided them through the process, advising them how to register for VAT as butchers and carry out their own versions of the fraud.

The nine had all registered for VAT as sole proprietors at some point between 2005 and 2010 claiming to trade as butchers and legitimate meat wholesalers who had purchased standard VAT-rated slaughtering services from the abattoir.

Khan, formerly of Clegg Street, Nelson, but now of Barden Lane, Burnley, pleaded not guilty to one count of cheating the public revenue and one count of laundering criminal property.

He was later found guilty by a jury on July 29th and was sentenced to two years in prison for each count, suspended for two years.

Full story in next week’s newspaper.