A London mortgage broker who lied about his company profits to evade almost £115,000 in corporation tax has been sentenced for his involvement in a tax and mortgage fraud.
This follows a joint investigation by HM Revenue & Customs and the Metropolitan Police Service.
Asim Hussain, director of Middlesex-based Lifestyle Mortgages, had diverted company income into other bank accounts to reduce the profits of his company and pay less corporation tax.
He then spent the money to finance a property in Dubai, overpay on his mortgage and buy land as an investment.
Mr Hussain was found guilty of falsifying mortgage applicants’ income and employment details and at a separate hearing pleaded guilty to cheating HMRC, which earned him a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, with an order to carry out 240 hours of community service.
HMRC said it is pursuing the £115,000 of corporation tax owed.
Gary Forbes, assistant director of criminal investigation at HMRC, said that Mr Hussain seemed to believe he could simply moving money between bank accounts and would stay off HMRC’s radar.
He said: “Instead, he has learned the hard way that crime does not pay - he now has a criminal record and his reputation and career are in tatters.
“What Hussain did was illegal and immoral – he used the money that should have gone back into funding some of the UK’s most vital public services to invest in his property and enjoy a lifestyle most honest taxpayers can only dream of.”
Detective Constable Philip Palmer of the Metropolitan Police Service added that the sentencing is the result of a coordinated approach by various organisations that should send a strong message to the financial and banking community that mortgage fraud and tax cheating will not go unpunished.
He said: “Every penny that Hussain evaded increased the tax burden on law-abiding citizens and deprived government revenue.”
ruth.gillbe@ft.com
