A financial adviser has been jailed for five years after helping a client fraudulently reclaim VAT of almost £900,000 and gambling away £130,000 of it.
Mohammed Izhar Ul Haq has also been banned from going into casinos and gaming online for three years after his release.
The fraudster forged a bank guarantee from the Bank of America so his client could claim a VAT repayment of nearly £900,000 from HMRC.
Haq then lied about his location, telling his solicitors he was sick in Pakistan, but was caught out when HMRC found CCTV footage of him gambling in a London casino.
The lies continued as he attempted to mitigate his involvement in the fraud. Haq claimed his fee was £20,000, when in fact he received over £200,000, £130,000 of which was paid into gambling accounts he held at London casinos.
He was found guilty of the offences at Harrow Crown Court last week, after being arrested in May 2011.
HMRC said they would not stand for fraud: "Haq presented himself as a trustworthy financial adviser, but instead he showed that he was an ingenious document forget," assistant director of HMRC criminal investigation Martin Brown said.
"HMRC will not tolerate attacks on public finds. We will investigate anyone found attempting tax fraud and protect taxpayers' money from criminals like Haq," he added.