A TAX agent who was arrested in Scotland over a £750,000 tax and mortgage fraud has been jailed for ten years.

Robin Moss, who is an internationally ranked chess player, and his wife Liliana were living in Scotland when they were arrested by HM Revenue & Customs officers in connection with the theft four years ago.

Moss, 58, was later convicted of tax fraud, money laundering, mortgage fraud and theft following a joint investigation between HMRC and Leicestershire Police.

Action to recover the stolen money is still ongoing.

HMRC say Moss persuaded one client to pay their £53,000 tax bill through him, who paid it straight into his bank account rather than paying it to the taxman.

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

The crooked taxman who was arrested with his wife at their home in Kirkland Road, Dumfries, splashed hundreds of thousands of pounds from the proceeds of his crimes on luxury items, including more than £115,000 on collectible Moorcroft pottery, £89,251 on gold coins and £18,930 on jewellery.

The Herald: Some of the  pottery,  that was bought from the proceeds of crime.

His wife, 49-year-old Liliana, admitted a £115,000 money laundering charge on 9 June 2023.

Moss, who moved to Cumbria and then laterally to Poland, who had pleaded not guilty to all charges, did not attend a sentencing at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday, while his wife appeared via video link.

Moss was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and his wife was sentenced to seven months in prison, suspended for 12 months.

Nick Stone, operational lead in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “Robin 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.

“I hope this sentence serves as a warning to the minority of corrupt professionals who wrongly believe they can use their knowledge to commit fraud.

“We can and will work with our law enforcement partners to bring you to justice and we encourage anyone with information about any type of tax fraud to report it online.”

Moss was convicted of cheating the public revenue of corporation tax and income tax totalling £454,082, fraudulent evasion of £193,333 of VAT and conspiracy to commit fraud by abuse of position.

The Herald: Gold coins that were bought from proceeds of the crime

He was also convicted of four counts of theft from clients totalling £52,363 and fraud by abuse of position totalling £13,944.

A third person, Rajvir Sahota, of 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 9 October 2023.

Former Leicestershire police detective, Jason Helmn, who now works for the East Midlands Special Operations Unit said: “It took the jury just 55 minutes to find Robin Moss guilty, and I’m glad they saw how this so called ‘professional’ was taking advantage of his clients, who believed his work was genuine.

“He went to great lengths to hide his criminality, shown in a complex web of transactions which proved how he converted his criminally obtained funds into cash and high value items.

“This has been a lengthy investigation and one that has required a lot of hard work and tenacity across both police and HMRC.”