A COMPANY director who used his food delivery business to make more than £150,000 in false tax claims over 10 years has been sentenced.

Billa Dhand, 56, of Hartington Road, Southall, was the director of Dysan Fresh Ltd, which delivered fruit and vegetables to be processed for supermarket chains.

Investigators from HM Revenue and Customs found Dhand had charged his customers VAT but failed to pass it on to HMRC.

He created hundreds of false invoices between 2006 and 2016 to hide VAT receipts and reclaim VAT repayments totalling £153,764.84.

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Mark Cox, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Dhand thought he was above the law and could get away with cheating the system. He was wrong and is now paying the price for his greed.

“Tax cheats take money from the public services we all rely on. Anyone with information about tax fraud can contact our hotline on 0800 788 887.”

Dhand pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud. He was given a seven-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday. He was also ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work.

HMRC is seeking to recover Dhand’s criminal proceeds.