Fraudster sentenced for gang's £1.1m tax scam

Louis Mothersdale, 27, was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court

A fraudster who was part of a gang's attempts to scam £1.1m of taxpayers' money out of the government has been handed a suspended sentence.

Louis Mothersdale submitted false claims through the HMRC's self-assessment system, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

He and his gang managed to get almost £400,000 paid out before the fraud was spotted, prosecutors said.

Mothersdale, 27 and of Brockley Whins near South Shields, was given a 14-month suspended sentence after admitting cheating the public revenue, with other gang members previously sentenced.

He was also handed a rehabilitation requirement of 30 days, and ordered to pay a £1,000 fine and prosecution costs of £1,447.

Mothersdale, of Australia Grove, submitted seven claims containing "false" information about his employer and income between September 2017 and May 2018, prosecutor Angus MacDonald said.

His claims totalled almost £58,000 and he received about £23,400, with the money quickly moved to other accounts or withdrawn as cash, the court heard.

He was part of a larger gang who "targeted the HMRC" and sought to get £1.1m "to which they were not entitled", Mr MacDonald said.

They got about £394,000 before the system caught them, the court heard.

In mitigation, Andrew Epsley said someone else filled in the forms for Mothersdale, with the defendant keeping only half the money and the rest going to the criminal gang.