Business accountant jailed for raising false invoices

Date: 9th September 2008

A business accountant has been jailed for four years after he was convicted of stealing over £500,000 from his employer.

Stephen Luck was sentenced at the Old Bailey late last week, after he was found guilty of stealing significant amounts of money from his employer, the Carphone Warehouse.

During the case, it was revealed that Mr Luck used the embezzled money to buy a Ferrari, two properties in Turkey and numerous home improvements, the Metro reported.

He had pleaded guilty to false accounting involving 16 fake invoices from June 2003 to April this year.

Sentencing, Judge Paul Focke is reported to have said: "You embarked on an extravagant lifestyle. It was sheer greed."

Recently, HM Revenue & Customs reported that it was stepping up efforts to deal with a 'backlog' of over 1,000 tax evading small businesses and sole traders.

It is believed that the department will rely on the services of City law firms to help deal with the evaders, potentially ensuring more end up in court.