Fraud, Convictions & Sentences – September 2026

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£25,000 Covid Loan, £56,000 Private Loan, £210,250 Lanzarote Home

Alex Hope, 41, fraudulently obtained a £25,000 Bounce Back Loan after declaring A Hope Ltd’s turnover as £100,000 when its accounts showed less than £13,000. He and CBD Asylum co-director Liam Jones, 42, also obtained a £56,000 private loan in 2021. Funds from both loans passed through multiple accounts and helped buy a two-storey home in Puerto Calero for €245,825 (£210,250).

Hope received a three-year prison sentence suspended for three years, an eight-year director disqualification and 250 hours of unpaid work. Jones received a 10-month sentence suspended for 18 months, a two-year disqualification and 100 hours of unpaid work. Both had guaranteed that no litigation was taking place, despite being pursued over around £800,000 since 2019. Virtutum Limited later entered liquidation, with HMRC tax claims reported to exceed £81,000.

£92,511 NHS Fraud: Dentist Jailed After More Than 1,000 False Claims

Former NHS dentist Fariba Shameli has been sentenced in her absence to three years in prison for defrauding the NHS of £92,511. She previously operated Findon Dental Care in Worthing and is now residing in Sweden. Across two trials at Hove Crown Court, she was convicted of four counts of fraud involving 1,037 false claims submitted between March 2013 and June 2018.

The claims included 158 charges for treatment not carried out, 532 submitted for work done by a trainee dentist, 161 for treatment already paid for privately and 186 with incorrect dates. Evidence included patient records, witness statements from 13 patients and a trainee dentist, and records from private dental laboratories. The NHS Counter Fraud Authority led the investigation.

£1.78m VAT Liability: Why Blaming the Accountant Failed

A construction company director has lost his appeal against a personal liability notice of £1,781,474.60, covering VAT returns from January 2015 to June 2019. The First-tier Tribunal found that PS Gill Construction Ltd’s VAT had been deliberately under-declared by around £65,000 a month. The company’s turnover was almost £30m, and it supplied around 350 workers a year.

Gill said his accountant had prepared the inaccurate returns, but the tribunal rejected his evidence as lacking credibility. Gill controlled the business, issued invoices and checked the company’s bank account daily. He did not call the accountant to give evidence, leading the tribunal to draw an adverse inference. It upheld the liability, finding Gill knew the VAT was understated and intended to mislead HMRC. He had 56 days from the ruling date to appeal.

$44m Offshore Tax Scheme: British Financier Sentenced in the US

Roderic Sage, a 73-year-old British citizen, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiring to defraud the US. From 2008 to 2014, he and co-conspirators helped conceal US clients’ assets and income using undeclared accounts at a Swiss private bank. More than $60m (£44m) was routed through nominee accounts in Hong Kong and elsewhere, then transferred to newly opened accounts in the name of a Singapore-based asset management firm.

Sage was extradited from the UK in May 2025 and held in custody for 15 months. He received a time-served sentence, with no supervised release, and was fined $40,000, payable by 12 February 2027, plus a $100 assessment. The offence carried a maximum five-year prison term. Two other co-conspirators and a US taxpayer had previously pleaded guilty.

658 Employers Named for Minimum Wage Underpayments—£7m in Penalties Issued

In the latest naming round, 658 employers were identified for underpaying more than 27,000 workers. Around £4m is being repaid directly to workers, with £7m in penalties issued on top. Common causes included deductions that reduced pay, failing to pay for all working time, and applying the wrong minimum wage or apprentice rate.

This is the first naming round since the Fair Work Agency was established in April 2026. HMRC still carries out minimum wage enforcement on the Agency’s behalf; the full transfer is planned for April 2027. Employers should review payroll deductions, working-time records and wage rates to check workers are receiving at least the legal minimum.

Nine Covid Loans, Five Companies, £450,000: Hotelier Blamed the Banks

London hotelier Richard Courtenay, 62, obtained nine fraudulent Bounce Back Loans totalling £450,000 across five companies in under two months in May and June 2020. The scheme allowed one loan per company, capped at £50,000. His largest claim was £200,000 through Lebex Limited; Belgravia Rooms received two loans totalling £100,000, while three other companies each received £50,000. Courtenay declared turnovers of up to £600,000, including for companies with dormant accounts or minimal cash.

He pleaded guilty to nine counts of fraud and one of money laundering. The funds were moved through personal and business accounts and used to buy cryptocurrency. Courtenay repaid the full £450,000 only after the investigation began. He received a three-year prison sentence, suspended for three years, 150 hours of unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitation activity. He said he did not know the rules and assumed the banks would check his applications.

First Companies House ID-Check Prosecutions: Three Directors Fined

Three directors have been convicted in the first prosecutions for breaching Companies House identity-verification rules under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. Their fines total £553: Jill White was fined £166, Marc Dillon £307 and Modinat Banjo £80. Including court costs and victim surcharges, their total payments were £1,029. White and Banjo continued acting as directors before verifying their identities; Dillon had verified himself but was prosecuted for failing to take reasonable steps to stop White acting while unverified. All three were also prosecuted for late confirmation statements.

Identity verification became mandatory for newly appointed directors on 18 November 2025. Existing directors must verify during the 12-month transition period, which ends in November 2026. By June 2026, around 4 million of the 7 million directors required to verify had done so—about 60%. Companies House says directors cannot opt out, and continuing to act without verification risks investigation and prosecution.