Robin Moss, an internationally ranked chess player, lied about his income, made bogus claims in the names of unsuspecting clients, and provided false documents for fraudulent mortgage applications.
Moss persuaded one client to pay their £53,000 tax bill through him and he put the money straight into his bank account rather than paying it to HMRC. Moss 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.Moss failed to attend sentencing at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday when he was given a 10 year jail term in his absence and an international arrest warrant was issued through Interpol.
HMRC fraud investigator Nick Stone said: “Robin Moss abused his position of trust to steal from clients and the taxpayer.