Tax fraud investigators have recovered more than £1 billion from dozens of offenders in less than five years including the jailed owner of three shops in Brighton.
Peter Davis, 61, was jailed for tax fraud for four years – and investigators recovered almost £230,000 from him through a “confiscation order” after the sale of his villa in Marbella, in Spain.
Davis had a company called Formula 1 Teamwear Ltd and ran three shops in Brighton – Paddock Club, in Queen’s Road, another Paddock Club, in Bond Street, and Attitude, also in Bond Street.
He carried out a sophisticated scam involving his shops – he owned several others around the country and a website – selling Formula 1 merchandise, as well as an Italian restaurant in London.
Davis, who lived in Woodyates Road, in Lee, south east London, was jailed after he fraudulently claimed more than £960,000 in tax repayments to keep his outlets afloat.
But he walked away from failed businesses leaving rent and rates unpaid and customers out of pocket or needing to submit claims to their credit card providers.
After pleading guilty to evading VAT (value added tax) Davis was jailed at Southwark Crown Court in July 2018 by Judge Michael Hopmeier and banned from running a company for seven years.
Judge Hopmeier told Davis: “These were serious, sophisticated frauds carried out over a long period of time, by deliberate dishonesty and virtually from the start of trading.
“Offences of this nature – fraud on the…
