Belfast gang bugged in Northern Ireland's biggest ever tax fraud case

The HMRC released a still from their footage inside the accountant's office

Scammers were taped joking they would be on the news if they got caught in what has been called Northern Ireland's biggest ever case of tax fraud.

They were secretly recorded plotting their crimes in a Belfast accountancy firm that was bugged by investigators.

The gang created a "false audit trail" so construction clients could avoid tax and VAT, amounting to a total of £5m.

Details of the recordings were released after the two ringleaders were jailed. Twenty-five others got suspended terms.

Belfast men Francis Devlin and Paul McStravick were jailed for four years on Tuesday.

Devlin was a partner at the bugged accountancy firm Allen Tully & Co, which HMRC said was used as a base by members of gang.

Their 25 accomplices - 23 men and two women - were spared prison over their involvement in the scam but they each received suspended jail sentences during previous court hearings.

'We'd go down in history'

The complex investigation spanned more than a decade, according to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Investigators kept the gang under surveillance for six weeks between February and March 2012.

On the HMRC recordings, one of the men can be heard speculating about the scale of their scam, and how they would become notorious if they were caught.

"It's like Aladdin's Cave in here for the revenue," the man is heard saying.

"If the revenue were to come in here... you know, we'd go down in history."

Laughing, the man then suggests that the gang would appear "on the Six O'Clock News" and not in just in Northern Ireland, but also "in London or something".

The scam involved creating 16 "bogus companies" to avoid tax, with the fraudsters using 56 associated bank accounts to commit the offences.

As well as bugging the accountant's office, the HMRC followed the gang and filmed their meetings and cash drop-offs.

They also recorded the suspects withdrawing money from cash machines.

'Stopped the loss of millions'

More than 400 HMRC officers were involved in the investigation, carrying out searches at 34 business and residential premises, including three in England.

The lengthy prosecution case ended on Tuesday when 58-year-old Devlin and 56-year-old McStravick were both jailed for four years at Belfast Crown Court.

Francis Devlin (left) and Paul McStravick were both sentenced to four years in prison

Devlin, from Bristow Park, Belfast, pleaded guilty to conspiring to cheat the public revenue and conspiracy to convert criminal property.

McStravick, from Myrtlefield Park in the city, admitted the same offences.

Following the completion of the prosecution process, HMRC released excerpts of the recordings and a statement on the scale of their investigation.

"This was a sophisticated and complex fraud that took the largest ever tax probe in Northern Ireland, including extensive covert surveillance, for HMRC fraud investigators to bring it down," said Richard Las, director of HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service.

"Their tenacity and expertise has stopped the loss of millions of pounds in taxpayers' money, which is now paying for our vital public services, rather than lining the pockets of criminals.

"The fact is, no tax criminal is beyond our reach and that includes those corrupt professionals who aid and abet them, as these sentences clearly show," Mr Las added.

The HMRC filmed meetings between some of the convicted fraudsters

HMRC's statement said it was the first time it had used the secret recording technique in Northern Ireland because it was "reserved for the most serious of tax fraud cases".

"Use of this technique requires approval from the surveillance commissioner," it explained.

'Complex file of evidence'

Graham Cardwell form the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) said it "worked closely with HMRC from an early stage in their investigation, which involved an extensive undercover surveillance operation".

"HMRC investigators submitted a large and complex file of evidence, including digital material and witness statements, to the PPS for consideration," he added.

"The prosecution team including counsel pulled together the various strands of evidence to form a strong prosecution case, which has resulted in these convictions."

The suspects were filmed making cash withdrawals during the scam

In relation to Devlin and McStravick's co-defendants, the HMRC said most of them had "knowingly allowed their personal details to be used as part of the fraud".

The 25 people were given suspended sentences during previous court hearings over the past three and a half years.

They were:

• Robert Clarke, aged 71, of Dundrod Road, Crumlin, who pleaded guilty to one count of converting criminal property

• Kenneth Sheehan, aged 44, of Cromwell Road, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue

• Matthew Brennan, aged 37, of Mathieson Terrace, Glasgow, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue

• Desmond Crean, aged 56, of Drummond Park, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue

• Daniel Lyons, age 42, of Whiterock Road, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to convert criminal property

• Sean Armstrong, aged 46, of Conor Rise, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue

• John Donnan, aged 44, of Portnamona Court, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to convert criminal property

• Kieran McGuinness, aged 46, of Berkeley Hall Square, Lisburn, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue

• Francis Rooney, aged 56, of Coolnasilla Park, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to convert criminal property

• Anthony Cassidy, aged 65, of Gausson Villas, Ballyronan, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and one count of converting criminal property

• Elizabeth Mulholland, aged 68, of Cavehill Road, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to one count of converting criminal property

• Colin Crean, aged 31, of Ligoneil Road, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue.

• Vincent O'Neill. Aged 54, of Weavers Meadow, Crumlin, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue

• William Walsh, aged 68, of Hillhead Avenue, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue

• Angela McStravick, aged 59, of Myrtlefield Park, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and two counts of conspiracy to convert criminal property

• Joseph McStravick, aged 58, of Commedagh Drive, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to convert criminal property

• Ciaran McStravick, aged 59, address unknown, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to convert criminal property

• Brendan Muldoon, aged 57, of Cluain Mor Drive, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue

• Simon Brennan, aged 55, of Edenvale Meadows, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to cheat the public revenue and two counts of conspiracy to convert criminal property

• Anthony Donnelly, aged 46, of Cranmore Gardens, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to one count of converting criminal property

• Stephen Darragh, aged 57, of Georges Island Road, Aghalee, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public

• Gareth Taylor, aged 36, of Whitewell Drive, Newtownabbey, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue

• David Scanlon, aged 36, of Upper Springfield Road, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to convert criminal property

• Anthony Devlin, aged 62, of Gransha Crescent, Belfast, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue.

• Sanjeev Dhir aged 58, of Lakeview Avenue, Rainham, Essex, who pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and two counts of conspiracy to convert criminal property