Former ATT boss jailed for 8.5 years for fraud

I trust that the CIOT/ATT Standards Committe will consider their role.

Quote from ATT's website: 

The joint Professional Standards Committee of the Institute and the Association of Taxation Technicians contributes to the achievement of ATT’s objective of promoting and enforcing standards of professional conduct amongst those engaged in the provision of advice and services in relation to taxation and monitoring and supervising their compliance with money laundering legislation. 

...What was Andrew thinking of?

ATT(Fellow) member

It seems more and more, that the people who should protect us, or set us a good example, are the biggest rip-off merchants in the UK!

8 1/2 years - thats a fair stretch, even with remission.

Never worth it...  greed, horrid thing...

J A Adams is absolutely right. The Standards Committee need to get their hosue in order, who approved Meeson's appointment and what checks were undertaken in advance of this?

Disgraceful.

according to the letter I received from the ATT yesterday, they had asked Andrew about this case when he was made President and he 'gave them assurances that the case was weak and would not proceed'

Obviously he just thought that he was bigger and above the system

I also assume there will be moves to get all this money back etc?

Methinks it all too cosy at the top !

most of these people at the 'top' are there purely as an ego trip and have little care for the sector/industry/body they are top of.  

Surely he should be disqualified from being a company director 'sine die'.  A six year ban is appropriate for a director who behaves recklessly, but is not deliberate fraud against the taxpayer ten times worse?

I've just checked the sentencing - it states:

Custodial sentence for 8 years and 6 months

Likely release date : 6 June 2017

Disqualified from acting as a company director for 6 years

>> I too received the email letter from the ATT Board yesterday - good that they were so quick - they obviously appreciated that the members would be concerned.

Regardless of any assurances that were given - particularly from Andrew himself (I could understand, just about, if Counsel had given the assurances) - what were ATT thinking in appointing him whilst there was a pending fraud case?

It is not possible to disqualify a person from being a company director sine die (indefinitely).  The maximum period of disqualification is 15 years under s2 Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986.

Generally courts set the disqualification period somewhere within one of three 'bands', up to 5 years, 5 to 10 years, 10 to 15 years.  Obviously the court regarded this as a 'middle band' disqualification case.

A prisoner convicted of an offence committed after 3 April 2005 and sentenced to a determinate term (e.g. not 'life') of more than 12 months will normally be automatically released on licence at the half-way point of his sentence.  Release may be earlier in many cases, for example on Home Detention Curfew or Release on Temporary Licence.

Outstanding confiscation debts may delay release.

David

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2013/03/06/finance-experts-jail...

that the two of them didn't really go for it. Let's face it if you're in a position like that and you choose the fiddledediddle route you've got to go for the really big stuff and certainly make sure you've hidden the money well. Otherwise there's just no point.

Not good publicity but they were caught and have been convicted.

Which is unusual in itself....I have seen much larger frauds (on an annual pro rata basis) where no action has been taken and the perpetrators been allowed to do it all again.

It always amazes me how daft these crimes seem to be.

"What was Andrew thinking of?" you ask?

I imagine Meeson was thinking of greed, greed, greed, greed, greed, crime, crime, crime, crime, crime.  You speak of "Andrew" as though he is a friend who deserves our understanding or even sympathy.

People who hold up sub-post offices might hope to get away with £10,000.  Meeson and associate stole £5m.  And he might be a company director in 6 years!  Madness!

I am sure we all wish to thank you for your encouragement of large scale crime.  Tell me you are not a qualified accountant.  If you are, hang your head in shame.

"Generally courts set the disqualification period somewhere within one of three 'bands', up to 5 years, 5 to 10 years, 10 to 15 years.  Obviously the court regarded this as a 'middle band' disqualification case."

So what exactly does one have to do for the courts to regard something as an "upper band" case? Given that these people will spend 2/3 of the ban sitting in a prison cell, the effective duration of the ban is 2 years. Doesn't seem like much for a scam worth £5m.

Is there no way the ban could have been commenced from their date of release? 

I think the point of satire was that this is easy to commit and usually easy to get away with and in this case a bit pathetic given the choice of fraud chosen when their education could have really stolen some money unnoticed by rather pathetic enforcement agencies.

The ability in the crime is a disgrace to the profession too?

We do expect better from our Tutors. They have let us all down

A long sentence should deter other from doing this

I was just about to give alastairt a broadside.

I don't think there is any deterent from not turning someone to the "dark" side.

I remember a high ranking policeman who had unlimited funds at his disposal to fight cirme but seemed to get his own mixed up with it. Rules were rapidly changed afterwards.

What does amaze me is that fraudsters buy stuff which is relatively easy to find. The real drug barons money is never found unless of course a tip off leads them to £22b dollars cash.

They were charged with fraud in late 2011.  That's rather different from being the subject of an HMRC investigation.  He had been arrested in September 2010.  That is pretty strong stuff and still he became president.  I accept there is a world of difference between arrest and laying charges.  But for an Association that demands probity of its members simply accepting an explanation, "Don't worry, I have been arrested but it's all OK" begs the question of how the appointment was allowed to proceed.

And The Council appear to be under estimating the effect this has had on their membership :