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.
This cheeky macaque gets up close and personal as he examines the dental hygiene of his fellow primate .
ROLLING around in the snow, these young brown bears take a break from their play fight to share a tender hug with one another .
This brave Hyena finally catches his pray among the thousands of flamingos, Lake Nakuru, Kenya - OUTNUMBERED among thousands of flamingos, this bold hyena is not put off from hunting for a morning snack .
Exploding out of the water, a great white shark performs a backflip during a hunt for seals .
MEET the underwater British seal who is so friendly he loves to grapple divers like a friendly puppy dog .
A cheeky chipmunk offers some of his spare food, before deciding against the idea and shoving the extra peanut into his already crammed mouth .
These are the faces of orphans suffering from the horrifying effects of chemical warfare .
Is your cat bored? Do his usual playthings simply not do it for him anymore? Not to worry - there's an app for that .
A diver attempts to control rising numbers of lionfish by feeding the venomous species to Caribbean reef sharks .
A little brown bear cub shows his doting mum that she is always on parent duty as he uses her as a scratching post .
TUGGING at his exhausted mum's ears, a beautiful baby orangutan refuses to settle for a nap as he begins a game of peek-a-boo .