Meeson guilty of £5m pension tax fraud - UPDATED

A JURY at Birmingham Crown Court has convicted Andrew Meeson, the former president of the Association of Taxation Technicians, 52, and business partner Peter Spencer Bradley, 46, for claiming £5m in tax relief for a fictitious pension scheme, according to sister publication Professional Pensions.

But Alison Jayne Bradley, 48, wife of Peter Bradley, was found not guilty of conspiracy to cheat HM Revenue & Customs between 1 January 2006 and 30 April 2010.

The fourth defendant Steven Price, 48, was also found not guilty of conspiracy and not guilty of acquiring criminal property from the proceeds of the fraud.

Meeson (pictured) - who previously advised HMRC on anti-tax cheating and evasion - and Peter Bradley have been found guilty of filing fraudulent tax relief claims with HMRC, which led to pay-outs of just under £5m to administrator Tudor Capital Management.

The jury found the two business partners guilty of exploiting HMRC's 'relief at source' system to profit from "bogus" tax relief claims for two imaginary pension schemes for the Moya group of payroll companies.

Pension scheme administrators make monthly claims to HMRC for tax relief repayment on the behalf of members, but do not need to break down the claim by individual scheme or identify member contributions.

Meeson and Peter Bradley have been convicted of hiding tax relief claims for the "fictitious" Moya schemes among claims from other genuine schemes.

Sentencing is expected later this afternoon.

More to follow...