VAT & PAYE FRAUD
Forensic Accounting, Evidence Development & Private Prosecution Support
FFIATS provides specialist fraud investigation services relating to VAT fraud, PAYE fraud, false accounting, and complex tax evasion schemes, often spanning multiple jurisdictions, corporate structures, and financial institutions.
Our work supports private criminal prosecutions, regulatory referrals, civil recovery actions, and insolvency proceedings. We are routinely instructed where allegations involve deliberate manipulation of accounting records, misclassification of expenses, suppression of taxable profits, and concealment of income through offshore entities, trust accounts, or prepaid financial instruments.
All investigations are conducted with evidential integrity, ensuring outputs are suitable for HMRC, prosecuting counsel, courts, and regulatory bodies.
Common VAT & PAYE Fraud Indicators We Investigate
Our investigations commonly uncover:
- False or inflated VAT input claims
- Deliberate misclassification of personal expenditure as business expenses
- Artificial audit trails designed to justify withdrawals or reimbursements
- PAYE avoidance through undeclared remuneration
- Use of prepaid cards, loyalty schemes, or offshore payment mechanisms to evade tax
- Suppression of profits to reduce corporation tax liabilities
- False general ledger entries, manipulated journals, and back-dated documentation
- Payments routed through trust accounts or third parties without commercial justification
These schemes are often sustained over many years and deliberately structured to defeat routine audits.
VAT & PAYE INVESTIGATION SERVICES
Forensic Accounting & Financial Reconstruction
We provide end-to-end forensic support, including:
- Reconstruction of general ledgers, bank accounts, and credit card activity
- Identification of fictitious expenses and false reimbursements
- Analysis of VAT returns, PAYE records, and Business Activity Statements
- Quantification of tax losses and diverted funds
Evidence Development & Disclosure
- Creation of defensible evidential schedules and chronologies
- Reconciliation of invoices, receipts, bank statements, and accounting entries
- Identification of fabricated audit trails and supporting documentation
- Preparation of disclosure bundles suitable for prosecutors and regulators
Cross-Border & Offshore Analysis
- Analysis of offshore legal entities, foreign bank accounts, and international payment flows
- Identification of inter-company diversion and profit shifting
- Mapping of nominee arrangements, trusts, and associated parties
Support for Private Criminal Prosecutions
- Evidence gathering aligned with criminal disclosure standards
- Liaison with solicitors and instructed counsel
- Identification of criminal offences including fraud, false accounting, and tax evasion
- Assistance with charging decisions and evidential thresholds
Anonymised Case Experience (Illustrative)
In a recent long-running investigation, FFIATS was instructed to examine financial irregularities within a group of internationally operating companies providing marketing and loyalty reward incentive services.
Our forensic accounting review identified:
- Systematic misclassification of personal expenditure as business costs
- Fabricated reimbursement claims supported by false audit trails
- Payments routed through trust accounts inconsistent with recorded purposes
- Use of offshore credit cards and prepaid instruments to extract funds
- Repeated VAT input claims on expenses that were not legitimate business costs
- Undeclared remuneration and benefits designed to avoid PAYE and income tax
The investigation required reconstruction of over a decade of financial records across multiple jurisdictions. Our findings quantified substantial tax losses, identified potential criminal offences, and produced a structured evidential package suitable for regulatory referral and private prosecution consideration.
Case Studies
Please review examples of past case studies prepared by FFIATS’ technical investigators, demonstrating the depth, methodology, and practical value of our work.
Buying Machinery from a Small Business? Why Due Diligence Matters
Buying commercial equipment such as trucks or forklifts can make it tempting to take the seller’s claims at face value, especially if the business seems reputable.
In one case, however, a client chose to arrange professional background checks before finalising a £30,000 purchase, a decision which paid off.
The checks enabled the client to negotiate from a stronger position and provided peace of mind that the equipment was free from outstanding finance, had not been stolen, and the seller was generally trustworthy, aside from a single minor issue on record.
Cross-Border Investment – Fraud Investigation
In 2024, a private client engaged our team to investigate a suspected large-scale investment fraud. The client had advanced £550,000 to an overseas entrepreneur under the terms of a loan agreement, believing the funds were secured against a valuable patent and linked to an ambitious renewable energy project. After the funds were paid in several tranches, the borrower ceased all communication and defaulted on the agreement.
Asset Tracing
FFIATS provides national and international Asset Tracing Services, tailored for, businesses, governments and consumers.
We have progressed comprehensive bank account and investment level asset traces in the UK and Internationally. Frequently spouses in matrimonial cases, Partners in business disputes and victims of fraud often experience concealment of assets and / or misappropriation of assets. FFIATS has the skills, experience and networks to trace stolen, concealed or misappropriated funds and assets.
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Let us help you resolve pressing issues or mitigate future risks.
Discover how we’ve successfully reclaimed stolen funds, conducted due diligence for investors, and mitigated risks for our clients. Explore our case studies to learn more about our expertise and how we can assist you.
If you would like to learn more regarding our areas of expertise, experience and how we may help you , please read some of our previous case files.