A MAN from Warwick who went on the run midway through a trial for tax fraud has been returned to the UK and jailed.
Craig Rees, 50, along with his 52-year-old brother Carl, submitted fraudulent Film Tax Relief and VAT claims to HM Revenue and Customs.
The pair submitted the inflated or completely made-up claims to HMRC for three separate films – Whispers, The Eight, and Violence.
Rees was sentenced in absence at Birmingham Crown Court in April 2024 after absconding during the trial in January.
Craig and Carl Rees, of Shakespeare Avenue, were both found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue. They were each sentenced to seven years in prison. They were also disqualified from acting as directors of any company for 15 years.
An appeal was launched at the time for information on the whereabouts of Rees.
Two years later he has been returned to the UK and appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday April 29. He has now started the seven-year prison sentence he was handed in his absence and has received an additional six-month sentence (to be served consecutively) for a bail offence.
Ben Close KC, for the prosecution, told the court Rees had failed to attend day 51 of his trial, in January 2024, and had emailed to say he had travelled to Ukraine.
The court heard there had been extensive efforts from HMRC’s fugitive unit to locate, arrest and return Rees, including work across multiple European jurisdictions.
But Rees only returned to the UK after a Czech court approved an extradition order following his arrest last month.
Her Honour Judge Heidi Kubik KC said:“This was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the jury’s verdict and to interfere with the administration of justice.”
HMRC officers also arrested a 36-year-old man in Manchester on Thursday April 30 on suspicion of assisting an offender (in connection with this case). He is currently being questioned.
To qualify for Film Tax Relief, at least 25 per cent of the production costs had to relate to activity in the UK at the time they made their claims between 2011 and 2015.
HMRC proved the pair’s claims were fraudulently inflated for the first film, which was moved to the United States. The second film was entirely made up, and the third movie was produced in the US purely to submit further fraudulent claims.
In total they tried to steal £542,840 in FTR and £484,933 of VAT repayment claims over a four-year period from October 2011. In total they received more than £367,000 of the payments.
