Restaurant couple's tax fraud crime

The owner of a Nottingham restaurant and his wife, who lied about their income to steal £203,000 in VAT and tax credits, have been sentenced.
HMRC officers raided their property in December 2014 and seized £97,765 in cash, which was found in carrier bags.HMRC officers raided their property in December 2014 and seized £97,765 in cash, which was found in carrier bags.
HMRC officers raided their property in December 2014 and seized £97,765 in cash, which was found in carrier bags.

Mohammed Ibrahim, 48, of Melbury Road, who runs Chutney, a restaurant on Friar Lane, supressed the takings of his business to steal £150,000 he should have paid to HMRC through his VAT returns between May 2008 and December 2014.

The investigation began after checks of the restaurant’s financial and trading accounts by the HMRC restaurant taskforce.

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His wife, Rukhsana Kuhsar Yasin, 43, of the same address, a college support worker, claimed she was living as a single parent working more than 16 hours a week and often inflating her childcare costs, to falsely claim £53,000 in tax credits.

HMRC officers raided their home in December 2014 and seized £97,765 in cash, which was found in carrier bags. Mohammed Ibrahim admitted the cash was the proceeds of crime.

The pair pleaded guilty on July 20 and were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday. Mohammed Ibrahim was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years. Rukhsana Kuhsar Yasin got eight months, suspended for two years.

The money seized has been forfeited and proceedings are underway to recover the proceeds of their crimes.

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