A SHOP fitter from the New Forest has been jailed for more than six years after evading more than £2million in tax over a five-year period.

Ian Jordan, aged 58, was found guilty of five counts of cheating the public revenue following a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court.

He was put behind bars for six years and three months by Judge Stephen Climie at a hearing on Thursday, March 16.

The case against Jordan was taken to court by the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) serious economic, organised crime and international directorate.

The defendant, of Beechwood Lane, Burley, was a director and shareholder of Jordan Decorative Shop Fitting Ltd.

HMRC said he evaded paying significant sums of VAT and corporation tax between 2012 and 2017.

He spent money on jewellery, cars, home improvements, garden landscaping, mortgage payments, and holidays, a HMRC spokesperson said.

Richard Wilkinson, assistant director in HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said: “No crime is victimless. Tax crime robs our vital public services of much-needed funds and can fuel a raft of other illegal activity that harms communities.

“HMRC is on the side of the law-abiding majority and will pursue the small minority who think they can steal the money that funds our public services like schools and the NHS.

“We encourage anyone with information about any type of tax fraud to report it to us online.”

Bournemouth Echo:

Michael Oatley, CPS unit head, said: “Ian Jordan deliberately created false purchase invoices and accounting records and he rightly now faces justice for his criminal actions."

Mr Oatley said the money Jordan did not pay should have gone to the public purse for hospitals, schools or transport.

He added: “Tax evasion is not a victimless crime. The public rely on the revenue generated by tax to fund essential services like the National Health Service and education.

"The CPS has now begun confiscation proceedings to recover the monies cheated from the UK taxpayer."

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