HMRC reveals hard core tax frauds

Notable perpetrators included two professionals who tried to steal £60m through a fraudulent tax avoidance HIV research investment scheme, and a charity treasurer who stole £330,000 in a Gift Aid repayment fraud. A Berkshire gang stole £34m in VAT and laundered £87m proceeds of illicit alcohol sales, while a former Top Gear mechanic helped father and son fraudsters flee the UK.

Simon York, director of the Fraud Investigation Service, said: ‘There remains a hard core who have zero interest in playing by the rules.’