Tax officer jailed after defrauding HMRC of £200,000

He falsified records and filtered the money into dozens of accounts that he had access to

A tax officer who fraudulently pocketed more than £200,000 to help pay off his wedding debt has been jailed. Mohammed Daar, 36, was described as “the leading player” in a sophisticated fraud that involved falsifying taxpayers’ personal records, which he then used to submit false business mileage expense claims, a court heard.

Money from those claims was paid to dozens of bank accounts controlled by Daar or other people under his control, a crown court was told. Daar was jailed for three years for fraud and money laundering offences.

Bradford Crown Court heard Daar, of Princeville Street, Listerhills, Bradford, West Yorks., had a gambling habit at the time, was addicted to drugs, and was facing a debt from his wedding. Barrister Stephen Grattage, prosecuting, told the court how Daar joined His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in 2016.

He was based in Bradford as a customer service consultant/administration officer within the personal tax operations department. When he started, as with other HMRC officers, he was assigned a unique PID number, which allowed his activity within internal HMRC systems to be tracked.

Daar was responsible for processing business mileage expense claims and issuing repayments linked to those claims. His role gave him not only access to private taxpayer information but allowed him to generate false repayment claims.

Over almost three years between October 21, 2019, and August 19, 2022, Daar accessed HMRC systems outside his remit and falsified 101 individual tax records without people’s knowledge. He then used those falsified records to submit false mileage claims with money repaid into 66 nominated bank accounts.

The fraudulent repayments totalled £211,715.21. Mr Grattage said: “To make the fraud work, Mohammed Daar needed access to bank accounts, which were able to receive the proceeds of his criminal conduct.

“To do so, he entered into money laundering arrangements with both Moosa Hajat and Arslan Ahmed. The prosecution say he did so to offer distance between his activities within HMRC and the proceeds of his criminal conduct.”

The court heard that Hajat received five false repayments totalling £9,895.67 and Ahmed received three false repayments totalling £6,012.13. The court heard that neither Hajat nor Ahmed had “any legitimate reason” to receive the payments.

Having paid the money – described as “the fruits of a money laundering arrangement” – into their accounts Daar then transferred it back to himself minus a small fee for both men. Daar’s fraud was uncovered in August 2022 when the HMRC received a query in relation to a mileage claim refund that had never been submitted.

The false submission was identified and linked back to Daar via his PID number, and a wider investigation uncovered his offending. When arrested and interviewed Daar declined to comment. When the fraudulent cash was traced, both Hajat and Ahmed followed suit.

Daar later pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position, unauthorised computer access, and with Hajat and Ahmed, money laundering. Mr Grattage described Daar as “the leading player” in each money laundering arrangement, with the planned and sophisticated criminality sustained over a period of time.

In mitigation the court heard that Daar had expressed genuine regret and shame for his actions. Jailing Daar, His Honour Judge Roger Thomas KC said: “This was a scam that you could use to your benefit.

“What you did over that long period of time was to abuse your position of trust. [There were] 66 accounts used by you to get the money from the HMRC back to you. The two men in the dock with you represent two of those examples.

“There is no alternative to immediate custody.”

Moosa Hajat, 30, of Arncliffe Terrace, Bradford, and Arslan Ahmed, 32, of Shay Grove, Bradford, were each handed 12-month community orders and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work. A Proceeds of Crime hearing will take place on May 21 next year.

Speaking after the sentencing Ben Rollins, Internal Investigations, Head of Anti-Corruption, HMRC, said: “This was an appalling breach of trust by Mohammed Daar. He abused his position to commit fraud for his own gain. We are absolutely committed to the highest level of integrity and will track down the tiny minority who let us all down by falling short of those standards.”