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Boston United officials guilty of tax fraud
England - 08 November, 2006
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Despite a guilty plea for tax and national insurance evasion, English Boston United manager Steve Evans will stay on the job for now.
Evans and the club's former chairman, Pat Malkinson pleaded guilty to cheating the public revenue between 1997 and 2002. Their combined fraudulent evasion of taxes amounted to GBP 245,000.
The fraud involved disguising salaries and wages as untaxed expenses, and the submission of false end of year tax returns. By this deceit, the club was able to pay players and managers higher wages, securing a competitive advantage over competitors.
Evans was sentenced to 12 months in prison and suspended for two years. Malkinson was sentenced to two years of imprisonment and suspended for two years.
The judge made a confiscation order against Malkinson for GBP 349,587 plus interest, and ordered him to pay within 12 months or serve three years in jail. Malkinson and Evans were ordered to pay costs of GBP 27,032 and GBP 1,000 respectively, both to be paid within 12 months.
The fraud affected all aspects of the club, with the gates "swelling by 1000 percent" according to the BBC news website. Boston was promoted from the Unibond League to the Nationwide Conference. In 2002, the club gained promotion to the Football League.
According to HMRC, players said, over the the course of the 18-month investigation that "the existence of undisclosed contracts, the existence of multiple contracts for the same players covering the same period containing different contractual terms and the fact that the players had provided no records of mileage which could possibly found the basis for legitimate reimbursement."
"The law says that tax and national insurance must be deducted from employees' wages and the monies passed to HMRC," Graham Ranson, HMRC's group director criminal investigation for London, said. "In this case wages were paid but disguised as expenses and by their actions Messrs Malkinson and Evans not only committed fraud but also achieved for Boston United an unfair advantage over other clubs who operated within the law.
"HMRC take a serious view of those who commit tax fraud and this case should serve as a deterrent to anyone considering such a course of conduct.'
Evans and the club's former chairman, Pat Malkinson pleaded guilty to cheating the public revenue between 1997 and 2002. Their combined fraudulent evasion of taxes amounted to GBP 245,000.
The fraud involved disguising salaries and wages as untaxed expenses, and the submission of false end of year tax returns. By this deceit, the club was able to pay players and managers higher wages, securing a competitive advantage over competitors.
Evans was sentenced to 12 months in prison and suspended for two years. Malkinson was sentenced to two years of imprisonment and suspended for two years.
The judge made a confiscation order against Malkinson for GBP 349,587 plus interest, and ordered him to pay within 12 months or serve three years in jail. Malkinson and Evans were ordered to pay costs of GBP 27,032 and GBP 1,000 respectively, both to be paid within 12 months.
The fraud affected all aspects of the club, with the gates "swelling by 1000 percent" according to the BBC news website. Boston was promoted from the Unibond League to the Nationwide Conference. In 2002, the club gained promotion to the Football League.
According to HMRC, players said, over the the course of the 18-month investigation that "the existence of undisclosed contracts, the existence of multiple contracts for the same players covering the same period containing different contractual terms and the fact that the players had provided no records of mileage which could possibly found the basis for legitimate reimbursement."
"The law says that tax and national insurance must be deducted from employees' wages and the monies passed to HMRC," Graham Ranson, HMRC's group director criminal investigation for London, said. "In this case wages were paid but disguised as expenses and by their actions Messrs Malkinson and Evans not only committed fraud but also achieved for Boston United an unfair advantage over other clubs who operated within the law.
"HMRC take a serious view of those who commit tax fraud and this case should serve as a deterrent to anyone considering such a course of conduct.'
Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 -
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