A crooked accountant who spent tens of thousands of pounds on luxury holidays and a sports car while cheating the taxman has been ordered to pay back £1.2m of his ill-gotten gains. Kenneth Scott made £3.3m from his scam, buying a £73,000 Aston Martin DB9 and paying £44,000 for one holiday alone.
Scott, 71, of Fir Tree, Crook, County Durham, was jailed for four years last year for cheating the revenue, and his case has now been back before Newcastle Crown Court for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The court heard his total benefit figure from the offending was £3,308,058. His available amount of assets is £1,269,660, and that is how much he must pay back or face a potential seven-and-a-half-year prison term in default.
Seven-year revenue dodge
Scott operated seven financial services companies across the North East of England, with offices in Newcastle, South Shields, Hexham and County Durham. The firms' 27 employees had tax and national insurance deducted from their wages, but the money was never passed on to the Inland Revenue. Clients were charged VAT, despite the group not being registered, which was not handed over to HMRC.
During the seven-year revenue dodge, Scott went on a series of lavish trips, including holidays worth £44,000, £23,000 and £13,000, and he splashed out on a £73,000 Aston Martin car. When he was interviewed over the offences in 2021, Scott already had a £5,000 cruise booked for that year and admitted his spending had been "a bit over the top".
Impact on employees
Scott admitted two charges of cheating the revenue between April 2014 and March 2021. Judge Edward Bindloss jailed him for four years and banned him from being a company director for ten years.
The court heard that because the employees' deductions had not been paid to the Inland Revenue, they were unable to claim benefits after they were no longer in their jobs. One worker went to Glasgow for six months due to her mother's ill health and was unable to claim any money she would otherwise have been entitled to while she was there. Their pensions could also be affected.
References described Scott, who was in business for 40 years, as "courteous, kind and polite", and others spoke of him being a "good employer" who would help people who needed it.
