Basildon company director Melvin Crump was sentenced to 2 years in jail on 17 December at Basildon Crown Court.
Crump is the controlling director of McMel & Co Ltd, a UK registered company operating from Shenfield, Essex, which specialises in producing cherished car registration plates.
In the early 1980s, Crump with a now deceased partner, formed a Jersey registered company called St. Brelade Organisation Ltd (SBO). SBO was used by Crump to purchase properties in the UK that were subsequently rented out.
The rental income was paid into off shore bank accounts in Jersey operated and controlled by Crump. The value of the property portfolio held by the offshore company rose in excess of £600,000. Various properties were subsequently sold and substantial gains made.
Neither the income nor gains were reported as required by law to the Revenue.
The loss to the public is estimated to be in excess of £600,000.
Crump of Greenways, Hall Lane, Ingatestone, Essex pleaded guilty to 5 counts of cheating the public revenue at a hearing on 22 November 1999.
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