A CONVICTED VAT fraudster is to have his £1m home confiscated after a ground-breaking legal ruling.
Businessman Michael Voudouri will have his plush Bridge of Allan property sold off to provide money he has been ordered to pay back for running a multimillion-pound VAT scam.
Appeal Court judges have ruled that the house he lives in in Stirlingshi
re is one of his assets despite it being put in the name of an overseas-based trust. The ruling is the latest victory for the Government's move to seize the assets of criminals, a policy which often sees those assets used to fund more crime-busting experts and technology.
Voudouri was found guilty of fraud in 2004 and sentenced to a four-year jail term. He is estimated to have defrauded the authorities to the tune of £3m.
He was released in 2006, and the authorities pursued him for £1.3m of the assets which they believed they could recover as proceeds of crime, and which consisted of the £900,000 house and £400,000 of other assets. Voudouri's home, a former manse, was signed over to a Delaware-based trust, which had his father-in-law named as the sole shareholder.
He and the trust had argued that because the home was not in his name it should not be regarded as his property and therefore taking the home from him would be depriving innocent people of their property.
But last week judges ruled that the circumstances made it clear Voudouri was in control of the home. They added that during the original sale of the house in 2002, the seller's solicitors dealt with Voudouri rather than with the trust. In addition, Voudouri had paid the property's building insurance.
High Court judge Lord Coulsfield said: "The Crown had shown to the judges satisfaction that the house was in the possession and control of the appellant and, in my view, it is clear that, in terms of the Act, that is sufficient to bring the property within the definition of realisable property."
Lindsay Farmer, professor of law at Glasgow University, said: "This is an interesting ruling; in effect it says that if you have control of the assets then they can be taken from you, and any issues about other people being affected by that is basically your problem to work out."
A spokesman for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs said: "HMRC welcome this clarification of the law in relation to the confiscation of criminal property."
Voudouri made millions through a VAT-dodging scam known as "carousel fraud".
The crime involves buying goods in other European countries and then billing the final customers and charging them VAT for the products on top of the asking price.
However, instead of paying the VAT to the taxman, a fraudster will pocket the VAT as profit, allowing him to undercut honest traders and defraud the authorities of tax funds. Selling the goods through a series of companies allows the offender to cover their tracks.
Carousel fraud which at one stage was estimated to be costing the UK Exchequer £100m a week.
Voudouri, who was not available for comment last night, used his money to finance a high-living lifestyle, including expensive cars and lavish parties. Sources close to the investigation said that he would invite friends for parties in expensive hotels and stump up all their overnight costs. His scheme involved importing computer chips from countries in mainland Europe where VAT is not levied on such products, such as Ireland and Luxembourg.
He originally hails from Cyprus and lived for some years in London.
The full article contains 611 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
