Private Sector

Midland car giant Jaguar Land Rover is investigating after a worker involved in a £70,000 expenses tax fraud claimed he "did what everyone else was doing". The scam was dubbed "Tommy's Tax" and Birmingham Crown Court heard it involved an external "financial advisor of sorts who was encouraging people who worked for JLR to commit this fraud".

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/jlr-speaks-70k-tommys-tax-100411737.html

Companies House is prosecuting steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta alongside four directors for failing to lodge accounts for 76 companies in the UK.

Gupta, as well as directors Iain Hunter, Deepak Sogani, Jeffrey Kabel and Jeffrey Stein have all pleaded not guilty to the enforcement, which could see each be fined or disqualified as a director.

Andrew Bell, 56, registered for self assessment with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and claimed business expenses when he was not eligible to do either.

A Jaguar Land Rover employee was involved £70,000 in income tax fraud which he claimed was common practice. Andrew Bell, 56, from Mappleborough Road in Solihull, faced charges after improperly registering for self-assessment with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and 'false'ly declaring business expenses.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/jaguar-land-rover-employee-dodges-30113629

A worker who 'betrayed the trust' of his employer by stealing more than £40,000 has been jailed. Adam Foster committed a series of frauds at a petrol station in Warwick.

Foster defrauded the business out of £46,106 while he was employed there, Warwickshire Police said. Bosses conducted an internal investigation and discovered that the 32-year-old had committed a series of thefts between January 2022 and May 2023.

The former manager of Southend pier has been convicted of fraud after it was proven that he was selling parts of Southend pier for personal gain. The former head of the council’s pier and foreshore service has been fined and ordered to complete community service after entering a guilty plea to fraud by abuse of position and money laundering.

https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/former-southend-pier-manager-sold-9618038

Awoman "caused significant financial damage to a local business" with crimes that cost her employer hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Louise Chambers, 41, from Thirsk, worked as finance manager for a group of Knaresborough-based companies in North Yorkshire from March 2021 to November 2022, when she was dismissed. A review then identified fraudulent payments from company accounts to accounts linked to Chambers, including a current account, a credit card and a council tax account.

Winding-up orders made against companies accused of loan fraud

• Ledbridge Consultants Limited and Montague Partners Ltd secured funds from Covid support schemes they were not entitled to
• Both failed to use the funds to support their businesses, filed suspicious accounts with Companies House and used people’s identities unlawfully
• The companies were wound-up at the High Court following investigations by the Insolvency Service

Two connected companies which fraudulently received more than £1 million in Covid support loans have been shut down by the courts following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

https://www.wired-gov.net/wg/news.nsf/articles/Court+shuts+down+two+connected+companies+which+received+more+than+1+million+in+fraudulent+Covid+loans+16092024101000

A 'trusted' office manager stole almost £700,000 from a company she worked at for 15 years.

Claire Reeves choose to defraud her employer by making hundreds of fake supplier payments to herself, despite being on a good salary plus annual increases and bonuses.

A sneaky fraudster quietly sold stock from his employer on eBay in a brazen bid to make some "quick money" – but his long-running scam badly backfired after a chance mistake by him.

Greedy and crafty Patrick Reilly gave himself away when, one day, he went out to lunch and an eagle-eyed finance manager noticed that he had left his computer logged in on an eBay account.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/employee-stole-stock-from-company-and-sold-it-on-ebay-but-was-caught-out-on-his-lunch-break/ar-AA1pdq7d

Recent regulatory action highlights the importance of remaining alive to the risks of fraud. Auditors must be aware of how legal requirements and auditing standards guide obligations when reporting suspicions of fraudulent activities.

The primary role of auditors is to provide an opinion on the truth and fairness of the financial statements. Given their access to financial information and sensitive records, auditors are often best placed to detect discrepancies and potential fraud that might otherwise go unnoticed.