A man who conned tax officials out of £34 million and funded a lavish lifestyle of luxury hotels and restaurants has been jailed for one of the longest sentences in British criminal fraud history. Thomas Scragg, 56, was jailed for a total of 17 years following three separate fraud convictions against HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) ~ the latest, in March 2011, for stealing millions of pounds in employee PAYE tax. The conman from Solihull, West Mids. used his business Moya Payroll which managed staff wages of construction industry companies to steal over £26m in tax over a five year period between 2002 and 2007. Other investigations revealed a further £8m of stolen PAYE tax in a 10-month period from April 2007 to February 2008.His co-defendant, Paul Phillips from Derbyshire, was jailed for nine years.The latest conviction for offences in March 2011, followed a joint investigation by West Midlands Police and HMRC.The extent of Scragg's racket has remained a secret until now as cases against his two henchmen Carl Johnson, 49, and his brother Anthony, 51, from Wolverhampton progressed through court.
A rare manuscript of one of Charlotte Bronte’s earliest poems went under the hammer today and fetched nearly £100,000 – double what it was expected to get .
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A unique business in Birkenhead, Merseyside is sure to leave you HALF-CUT with its unusual pub and barbers combination .
COURAGEOUS CLIMBERS scale frozen waterfalls in Canada, as the ice threatens to collapse beneath them .
HIDDEN in the middle of the Mojave Desert, a secret oasis awaits intrepid travellers .
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BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .