Raymond John Weaver, 70, of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, was jailed for 30 months in March 2017 after he failed to declare sales of excavators and bulldozers to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), allowing him to fraudulently pocket VAT received from his customers.
Weaver was last week ordered to repay 拢990,000 within three months and will now face selling his assets, which include a 拢1.2m home, a villa in Portugal and a collection of cars.
Diccon Wood, assistant director of HMRC鈥檚 fraud investigation service, said: 鈥淲eaver made a deliberate decision to not disclose his sales in an attempt to avoid his tax obligations and keep the cash. His crimes put him behind bars and now he鈥檒l repay what he stole or spend even more time in prison, and still have to pay the money back.
鈥淥ur actions don鈥檛 stop once someone is convicted, we will look to reclaim the stolen money.鈥�
Following his arrest in December 2012, Weaver acknowledged there was 鈥榮omething wrong鈥� with his paperwork, but denied any wrongdoing. And in a bid to avoid paying income tax in the UK, Weaver had told HMRC that he resided in Portugal. But enquiries with the Portuguese authorities revealed he paid no tax there, telling them that his main residence was in Dubai.
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