Locked-up Wolverhampton tax expert loses appeal on term
A tax?expert from the Black Country jailed for eight-and-a- half years for his part in a £4 million con has had an appeal over the length of his sentence dismissed by top judges.
Andrew Meeson was jailed after being convicted by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court for conspiracy to cheat Revenue and Customs.
He had previously served as president of the Association of Taxation Technicians, London's Appeal Court heard, and had 'made submissions to the Revenue on matters of taxation policy'.
His fall from grace stemmed from an audacious and brazen fraud, said Mr Justice Openshaw, involving the creation of a bogus scheme designed to claw back 'relief at source' payments from the tax authorities.
He and accomplice Peter Bradley created a 'fictitious pension scheme' involving non-existent members and contributors.
"They then asserted to the Revenue that £20million in contributions had been paid into the scheme by the members, which was entirely untruthful," said the judge.
Meeson, 52, of George Street, Wolverhampton, clawed back £4m from the tax authorities. The con continued for a number of years, said the judge, but began to unravel in 2009 when an inquiry was launched.
Meeson's case reached the Appeal Court on Tuesday as he challenged his sentence, claiming it was too tough. But in dismissing the appeal Mr Justice Openshaw, said: "Such professional frauds should be deterred by a stiff sentence."
Meeson was jailed in March with fellow director of Tudor Capital Management Limited, Bradley, of Springhill Lane, Lower Penn, who is also serving eight-and-a-half-years.
