Former Ayrshire Ark boss sentenced for £37,000 tax fraud
Zara Brown admitted fraudulently claiming VAT repayments
A local animal shelter boss, jailed for seriously neglecting dogs, has now been convicted of tax evasion.
Ayrshire Ark owner Zara Brown served half of her seven month sentence behind bars for abusing the pets, leaving them in dire conditions - dead animals were also found in a chest freezer.
Now the 30 year-old from Patna's been found guilty of not paying tens of thousands of pounds in VAT.
Zara Brown, 30, of Patna, Ayrshire, registered an electrical components business for VAT and between March 2013 and December 2014 claimed repayments of £37,279.18 for stock purchases.
HMRC officers found no evidence of any business transactions to support her VAT repayments and the company didn’t appear to exist.
Joe Hendry, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said:
“Brown stole money from honest taxpayers and showed a blatant disregard for UK tax law by knowingly defrauding HMRC of VAT.
“HMRC will continue to pursue criminals who attack the tax system and we ask anyone with information about suspected VAT fraud to call our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”
Brown pleaded guilty before Ayr Sheriff Court in October 2017 and was sentenced to a 200 hour community payback order of unpaid work to be completed in six months when she appeared again today.
She also had a restriction of liberty order imposed on her between 10pm and 7am for six months and will not be allowed to operate a business for two years.