A Warrington takeaway owner has been jailed for 30 months and must now repay £245,000, or face another two years in prison.

Mehmet Tekagac, aged 44, ran the Top Grill Kebab and Pizza House on Warrington Road, Penketh. He claimed to earn only £9,000 a year – but he was suppressing his true takings to evade £31,000 Corporation Tax, and he pocketed £98,000 of VAT he had charged customers. He also illegally claimed £49,528 in Tax Credits.

Following an HMRC criminal tax investigation he was charged with tax evasion, convicted, and sentenced to 30 months in jail.

HMRC then took Confiscation Proceedings under the Proceeds Of Crime Act. Tekagac had sold land and buildings and his former takeaway, for £305,000, shortly before his guilty plea. And had also transferred a house in Warrington to his brother. Last week Tekagac was ordered to repay £245,105 within three months, or spend another two years in prison; after which he would still owe the money.

A spokesperson for HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “HMRC will continue to pursue criminals after conviction to seize their ill-gotten assets.”

 

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