Airport car park crook must repay £300,000

A jailed airport car park boss must repay almost £300,000 in stolen tax or face another three years behind bars.

Brian Pearson, 59, of Hawthorne Avenue, Wilmslow, was jailed in October 2017 for three years and two months after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) revealed the Manchester Airport ‘meet and greet’ parking boss stole more than £466,000 from his employees’ Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC).

Pearson was ordered to repay £297,993 within three months, or spend another three years in prison and still owe the money at a confiscation hearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday 13 September 2019.

Pearson now faces losing assets including a villa in Portugal, a personal pension and ISA savings.

Diccon Wood, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said:

“Pearson lived the good life while stealing from his own workers as well as the public. His actions put him in jail for a considerable time.

“HMRC will continue to pursue criminals after conviction to seize their ill-gotten assets. We urge anyone with information about tax fraud to contact us online or to call 0800 788 887.”

Pearson ran MIA Secure Parking Ltd, a ‘meet and greet’ parking service based in Sharston, Wythenshawe, which later became UK Premier Parking Ltd. Both companies operated parking services focused on nearby Manchester Airport.

HMRC raided Pearson’s home and business seizing records, computers, payroll books, employee and financial documentation in March 2015.

As an employer, Pearson was responsible for Income Tax and NIC deductions for employees through the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system. The seized payroll books were blank, but employee records and salary statements proved that Pearson was taking Income Tax and NIC for up to 60 of his employees. None of which was paid to HMRC.

Information about any type of tax fraud can also be reported to HMRC online at www.gov.uk/report-an-unregistered-trader-or-business.