Robin Moss: Chess-playing tax fraudster spent £115,000 on pottery

Robin Moss was jailed for 10 years in his absence after he failed to turn up for sentencing

An internationally-ranked chess player who swindled £750,000 through tax and mortgage fraud has been jailed.

Tax agent Robin Moss spent more than £115,000 on collectible pottery, £89,000 on gold coins and just under £19,000 on jewellery.

Moss, formerly of Melton Mowbray, was sentenced in his absence to 10 years in prison on Monday.

An international arrest warrant has been issued through Interpol, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said.

The chess player spent £115,000 on collectible Moorcroft pottery, HMRC said

Moss, 58, lied about his income, made bogus claims for unsuspecting clients, and provided false documents in fraudulent mortgage applications, HMRC said.

A jury at Nottingham Crown Court found Moss guilty of multiple counts of tax, fraud and theft offences in just 55 minutes at an earlier trial.

His wife Liliana Moss, 49, was also sentenced to seven months in prison, suspended for 12 months, after previously admitting laundering £115,000.

Robin Moss was caught following a joint investigation between HMRC and Leicestershire Police.

False tax repayments

Some of his victims were based in Leicestershire, HMRC said.

The main defendant, formerly from Leicestershire but now of Skórzewo, Poznan, Poland, persuaded one client to pay their £53,000 tax bill through him but paid it straight into his bank account rather than to HMRC.

Other clients had their HMRC details used by Moss to make false tax repayments, which he had paid into his own bank accounts.

A third defendant, Rajvir Sahota, of Kingfisher Drive, Greenhithe, Kent, admitted mortgage fraud using false documents supplied by Moss.

He pleaded guilty in May 2021 and was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months, on Monday.

Moss failed to attend sentencing at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday

Robin Moss was living in Kirkland Road, Dumfries, up to his arrest in July 2018. He then moved to Towerson Street, Cleator in Cumbria, HMRC said.

Nick Stone, operational lead in HMRC's fraud investigation service, said: "Moss abused his position of trust to steal from clients and the taxpayer.

"Tax fraud is never a victimless crime and the eye watering sums he spent on pottery and gold should have been funding the public services we all rely on."