A ‘trusted’ barrister who stole more than £98,000 in tax after lying about his earnings has been jailed for nearly two years.
Christopher Wilkins, 57, of Chichester, West Sussex, stole £98,732 in tax by deliberately understating his income and inflating his expenses over a five-year period.
HMRC has reported that during this time, the established barrister earned £740,000, but was still massively in debt.
The heavily indebted barrister was paying for his children to attend a £5,000-a-month private school and tried to sell his home to keep creditors at bay, reports SomersetLive.
HMRC reports that Wilkins, who was taken into custody in May 2017 said that he wasn’t paying his VAT.
Christopher Wilkins, 57, of Chichester, West Sussex, has been jailed for nearly two years after having stolen more than £98,000 in tax by lying about his income and expenses to HMRC
An investigation of these claims revealed that Wilkins’s VAT declarations were not comparable to the ones provided by the chambers where Wilkins worked. This led to Wilkins lying about his income in order to lower his tax bill.
Wilkins, who pleaded guilty last November to VAT fraud at Taunton Crown Court was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Thursday (12 Jan).
Wilkins admitted to one count of VAT fraud. This was a period between March 2012 – June 2017. Wilkins filed false returns during this period, but no return were ever made.
SomersetLive says Wilkins was called to the Bar in 1993. In 2005 Wilkins quit law work. At that point, he became heavily indebted due to property investments abroad, which were devalued by the 2008 real-estate crash.
Wilkins, who had been working as a lawyer since 2011, entered into an Individual Voluntary Agreement in 2013. This agreement was to pay off HMRC debts and prevent him from going bankrupt.
But, his IVA failed to include all the VAT due. Paul Grumbar (prosecuting barrister) stated that Wilkins should have known.
Wilkins owed £13,000 to his own chambers, and he had also built up debt with his children’s private school.
Charles Bott QC, who was speaking in defense, said that ‘he cuts a sad figure. And the extent of physical, mental and psychological damage it has caused, even though he is responsible, is horribly apparent.
“He is a parable of the dangers that can befall a man who gets in debt.
Wilkins’ defense barrister stated that Wilkins had been in serious trouble with HMRC for putting his children’s expensive private school tuition above everything else.
Charles Bott QC, who defended Christopher Wilkins in the Taunton Crown Court Case (pictured), claimed that Christopher Wilkins had been in trouble with HMRC after he put his children’s private schooling ahead of all other things.
Zoe Ellerbeck is the assistant director for the Fraud Investigation Service of HMRC. She said that Christopher Wilkins, a trusted barrister should know better than to cheat the system.
“Nobody is above tax fraud and it is not an innocuous crime. HMRC is a fraudster who takes money from the schools, hospitals and other essential public services.
“We have a commitment to fight tax-crime criminals that rob public services vitally of crucial funds.
HMRC can be reached online at any time if you have information regarding tax fraud.
After the sentence, a spokesperson for HMRC stated that the accused was being charged with fraud in February 2020.
“Mr Wilkins admitted guilt to the charge in Taunton Crown Court, November 22, 2021. He was sentenced by that court to 21 months imprisonment on January 12, 2022.