Property investor jailed for fraud following HMRC inv...

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05 September 2016

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By Graham Norwood

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Property investor jailed for fraud following HMRC investigation

A self-employed property investor and caterer who stole over £70,000 in a tax credit fraud, has been jailed.

Khalid Farid, 59, from Bermondsey, admitted fraudulently claiming tax credits, despite pocketing more than £509,000 from property sales, following an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs.

Farid’s crime was uncovered by an HMRC property taskforce, set up to identify those who seek to avoid paying tax from property transactions.

Farid had eight London properties, purchased in his wife’s name, which he had sold over the previous nine years. Although making substantial profits, at the same time Farid was claiming tax credits for himself and his family.

He lied and claimed the only home he had was his rented flat, which, until recently, he used as a base to cook and deliver Indian takeaways.

“Farid deliberately abused a system designed to provide financial help to the most vulnerable people in our society. Honest taxpayers and those in need of benefits often don’t have the opportunity to own one property, but Farid profited from the sale of eight” says David Margree of HMRC’s fraud investigation service.

The property sales will now be subject to a capital gains assessment by HMRC and confiscation proceedings to recover the proceeds of his crime will follow.