back to article IT consultant gets 4 years' porridge for tax fraud

An IT consultant has been jailed for four years after lying about his income to avoid paying £170,000 in tax. Hamauon Khan, 46, also known as Billy Khan and Billy Love, was sentenced after an HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation proved he had failed to declare his earnings. Khan had claimed he was unemployed for at …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm not condoning his actions....

    But 4 years? FFS come on! Some rapists get less than that!

    And if you're called Google or Facebook or AnOther BigCorp Plc you can just pay whatever you feel like yet still to a grateful fawning HMRC and you're welcomed with open arms by the suckers in government. Double standards , much?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I'm not condoning his actions....

      In the governments eyes, *NO crime deserves gaol time like tax aviodance.

      Of course, this only applies to the little people. Globalmegahypercord LTD need have no such worries, as a paltry fine of less than what this clown avoided paying will suffice and serve to teach them the error of their ways.

      1. TheOtherPhil

        Re: I'm not condoning his actions....

        I'm reminded of the 17th century rhyme protesting enclosure laws (well, who wouldn't be?)

        They hang the man, and flog the woman

        That steals the goose from on the common;

        But let the greater criminal loose

        That steals the common from the goose.

        1. Anonymous John

          Re: I'm not condoning his actions....

          In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets, and steal loaves of bread.

      2. romanempire
        Headmaster

        Re: I'm not condoning his actions....

        " tax aviodance" (sic) is not illegal no matter how much they try to conflate it with 'tax evasion' (which is).

        P.

        1. d3vy

          Re: I'm not condoning his actions....

          No idea why you got a downvote for stating something which is a clear and well established fact.

          Avoidance involves declaring your income and using legal methods (Such as pensions, ISAs etc) to reduce your tax liability, Evasion involves not declaring your income correctly in the first place (as this guy did)

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: I'm not condoning his actions....

            Are you new here?

            :-)

            the phantom down-voter is alive and well..

            Wonder why el-reg *doesn't let you see who + or - who. Liveleak does it.

            *unless it does and I just don't know it.

          2. joed

            Re: I'm not condoning his actions....

            And often as much difference as between lobbying and corruption.

            Obviously law allow these mainly for the benefit of these that have enacted laws.

    2. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: I'm not condoning his actions....

      No, normal standards in a modern society.

      The only crime bigger than not paying taxes as far as government is concerned is grand treason. Al Capone could tell you - if he was alive.

    3. banalyzer

      Re: I'm not condoning his actions....

      It was 2 years for tax fraud and 2 years for child support offences, these will run concurrently with usual parole, and if he's been inside awaiting trial he's probably already out.

      This dates from the 2013 arrest with a guilty plea entered in Sept 2015. If he was on bail then he'll be out for the next tax year.

    4. Bob Vistakin
      Facepalm

      Re: I'm not condoning his actions....

      Yet the punishment for fiddling your porn and stealing £100k+ if you're an MP is just to pretend to apologise, being allowed to keep the loot of course.

  2. dervheid
    Facepalm

    Gob

    Smacked

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    One word

    Good.

  4. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse

    FTFY...

    Colin Spinks, assistant director of the Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Khan has to pay the price for his deliberate attempts to steal money from UK taxpayers – money that could have been used to fund vital public services." But went on to add that "...most likely wasn't used that way however as we just bandy this term about to hide our own inability to correctly manage money. More likely is that the money was actually spunked on a failed IT project, some no-name MPs expenses, or used to crowd fund a missile that we ultimately fired at unarmed brown people somewhere in the Middle East".

    1. AndyS

      Re: FTFY...

      Wait, does killing unnamed and unarmed brown people somewhere in the middle east not count as a "vital public service"? I always assumed it was essential to our democracy, since we seem to spend so much of our money doing it.

  5. Gruezi

    huh?

    " two years for the tax fraud and two years for the child support offences."

    What child support offences? *reread story* Did I miss the bit where they talk about the child support offences? Or should someone remove the "the" before "child support offences"?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: huh?

      It was probably one of those mud slinging approaches the CPS likes to use today. He should have paid this much tax and if he had he would have had to pay this much child support so we'll go after him for that too.

      As others have said if your a big company you get away with it or at least negotiate but the average man....... I think making him pay it back plus a fine would have been enough it would probably have reduced the cost of the trial and he could be out earning money and paying some tax instead of sitting in prison where we're paying to feed and clothe him.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Claimed to be unemployed

    Took the dole benefits, didn't pay child support and tried to hide his earnings. That would have gotten him a minimum of 10 years in the States.

    1. phuzz Silver badge

      Re: Claimed to be unemployed

      So about half of what you get for a splif then?

    2. Uffish

      Re: Minimum of ten years

      Long jail sentences are mostly a complete waste of taxpayers' money. Prosecute the lawmakers instead, you know it makes sense.

  7. Sureo

    "...money that could have been used to fund vital public services."

    Or just as likely, wasted by the politicians.

  8. MotionCompensation

    He tried a shortcut

    Look what happens when you try to skip the Panama route.

  9. Baldy50

    Trekkie alert!

    Probably going to hell for this but 'the chastisement of Khan'?

    1. King Jack
      Thumb Up

      Re: Trekkie alert!

      Have an upvote for boldly going down that path

    2. Graphsboy

      Re: Trekkie alert!

      The Rap of Khan?

  10. Efros

    hmmm

    No doubt he deserved penal servitude of some kind, there has to be some fairness in the application of sentences. Financial crime, hit him financially, big time, take all that he has, if necessary. When physically dangerous people walk away from horrible acts with little retribution or consequences that don't reflect the seriousness of the crime then something is wrong.

  11. Mark 85
    Trollface

    There has been sheer greed for a substantial period and you have used the money for your own benefit for a lavish lifestyle and foreign holidays.”

    I thought this was why we worked? Lifestyle and holidays. Or maybe we're supposed to work to give the government our money?

  12. GBE

    Shorter sentences for domestic holidays?

    Sentencing Khan, Judge Laing QC said: "... and you have used the money for your own benefit for a lavish lifestyle and foreign holidays.”

    So you get a shorter sentence if you spend your ill-gotten-gains on domestic holidays rather than foreign ones? Do Scotland and Wales count as foreign or domestic?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Shorter sentences for domestic holidays?

      If it was a caravan holiday in Wales in November then this would count against his sentence as time already served

  13. tooba

    Justice or injustice?

    Billy Khan is a freelancer as it s mentioned here clearly, now my question is if his all belongs are taken away from him as a penalty for his fraud( though very hard word to be used here) as sentenced him jail, will it not be sufficient for any person? why such posts are created in number of online sites with culprit name and hence take away all the rights to re live a better life? to me such people are as unlawful as the culprit himself. but why there is no penalty for such people who provoke such things?

    there i can see 36 posts but none of them was replied by the reporter herself.

    in religion even when anyone pays for his sins he is purged but here it is reversed. such actions takes the rights to relive.

    now if you google Billy khan, billy khan crawley or hamauon khan you would see all these links right there on front, in such circumstances how anyone can live a better life after he is all clear from penalties?

    i would appreciate if anyone can answer.

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