A Bournemouth watch dealer has been jailed for cheating HM Revenues & Customs out of £270,000 of false VAT claims.
Mark Gibson bought luxury watches including Cartier and Rolex in the UK, selling them on to overseas buyers
Gibson, who traded as Mark Gibson, Watch Wholesaler, had a legitimate business buying and selling watches but began to falsify receipts for luxury watches to reclaim the VAT from HMRC.
His false claims totalled £271,023, with many of the watches he made claims for never purchased in the first place.
Despite pleading not guilty to a charge of cheating the public revenue he was found guilty by a jury at Bournemouth Crown Court.
Judge Peter Johnson said during sentencing: “It was a sophisticated and professionally planned fraud, executed over a period of time.”
