£140k cash found at home of tax-evasion plumber

A Black Country plumber who filled his house with more than £140,000 in cash after not paying a penny in income tax for 10 years was starting a 12 month jail sentence today.

David Williams, who ran a business called Dave The Plumber, kept the money in sweet tins and safety deposit boxes, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard yesterday.

They were found throughout his three bedroom semi in Walton Close, Rowley Regis. The court heard he had avoided paying more than £90,000 in income tax and National Insurance.

Investigators carried out the raid at his home after the 53-year-old ignored a final warning from Revenue and Customs officials to submit a tax return.

Prosecutor Miss Madhu Rai said: "He had deliberately avoided paying income tax or making National Insurance contributions for 10 years while working as a plumber.

"He was mainly paid in cash which was either put into various bank accounts or hidden in a range of different parts of his house."

He had carried out at least 8,133 jobs as a registered gas fitter during that period generating over £300,000 profit on which he should have paid £90,956 tax and National Insurance, the court was told.

Williams had made up to £400 profit per job while pocketing over £20,000-a-year before the final warning letter arrived last May. When there was no response officials raided his home and found £142,542 cash with nearly £2,000 worth of cheques, said Miss Rai.

He told investigators that the stash was his pension.

Mr Graham Russell, defending, said: "He turned a blind eye to his tax affairs and that turned into dishonesty that was about as unsophisticated as it gets."

The defendant admitted evading income tax and was jailed for 12 months by Judge Michael Challinor who said: "You were squirrelling away this money at your home and had no intention of paying tax."