A would-be haulier who obtained more than £45,000 through a VAT scam has been jailed for 20 months.
David Hirst, 53, was described by a judge as the “prime mover” behind the year-long fraud which also involved his former wife and an associate.
But Bradford Crown Court heard that at the time Hirst, of Keldregate, Bradley was “besotted” his second wife, a Thai woman, and he would pass on money from the fraud so she could send it back to the Far East for her daughter and family.
Barrister Simon Batiste, for Hirst, said his client was no longer in a relationship with his second wife and did not know her whereabouts.
Mr Batiste said because most of the money went to his Thai wife, Hirst was not able to invest in what he hoped would become a legitimate haulage company.
The court heard that during the scam Hirst submitted false invoices and other documentation relating to applications for VAT repayments on behalf of two firms he had set up.
Prosecutor Angus MacDonald said claims amounting to just over £45,000 were successful, but suspicious officials at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs suspended two further payments and launched an investigation into the fraud in early 2014.
In January this year Hirst admitted charges of being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of VAT and today he was jailed after Judge Benson said it had been a calculated fraud which involved other people.
Hirst’s former wife Sharon Mitchell, 53, of Vine Crescent, Cleckheaton, pleaded guilty to a charge of false accounting and was given a nine-month jail term suspended for two years.
The former bank employee was also ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work for the community.
At the time of the offending she was living in their matrimonial home and the court heard that she feared she might lose it if she did not help Hirst.
A third defendant Carl Buttle, 42, of Woodrow Drive, Low Moor, was given a community order which included 120 hours unpaid work.
He admitted offences in respect of the two VAT applications which did not result in any money being paid out.
