A barrister has been jailed for 18 months after being convicted at the Old Bailey on two counts of cheating the public revenue.
Edward Paul Agabje, aged 60, was self-employed during the period of the fraud, working out of 1 Gray’s Inn Square chambers in London and specialising in criminal law. He failed to pay more than £80,000 owing to HMRC over a seven year period.
He was deregistered for VAT in February 2005 after failing to submit complete VAT returns dating back to 1994, HMRC said. ‘This meant he was barred from trading above the VAT threshold, which was £58,000 in 2005. However, Agbaje continued to trade, paying no VAT from 2 February 2005 to 17 March 2012. He used his invalid VAT number on invoices during this period and collected more than £59,000 in VAT on fees from clients, pocketing the money rather than passing it on to HMRC.’
Agbaje had also failed to file income tax returns since 2007, resulting in a tax bill of £18,000.
Andrew Sackey, assistant director criminal investigation at HMRC, said: ‘As a barrister Agbaje should have known better than to try to cheat the system. He thought he was above the law but HMRC will not stand by while criminals try to cheat the taxpayer. Declaring and paying VAT due is a legal requirement – not a lifestyle choice – so we are pleased that justice has been served.’
Agbaje was suspended from 1 Gray’s Inn Square last year pending the outcome of proceedings and subsequently left, according to The Lawyer. The Times reported that Agbaje, now of Slough, Berkshire, was living in Bexleyheath in 2008 at the time of his final arrest.
A barrister has been jailed for 18 months after being convicted at the Old Bailey on two counts of cheating the public revenue.
Edward Paul Agabje, aged 60, was self-employed during the period of the fraud, working out of 1 Gray’s Inn Square chambers in London and specialising in criminal law. He failed to pay more than £80,000 owing to HMRC over a seven year period.
He was deregistered for VAT in February 2005 after failing to submit complete VAT returns dating back to 1994, HMRC said. ‘This meant he was barred from trading above the VAT threshold, which was £58,000 in 2005. However, Agbaje continued to trade, paying no VAT from 2 February 2005 to 17 March 2012. He used his invalid VAT number on invoices during this period and collected more than £59,000 in VAT on fees from clients, pocketing the money rather than passing it on to HMRC.’
Agbaje had also failed to file income tax returns since 2007, resulting in a tax bill of £18,000.
Andrew Sackey, assistant director criminal investigation at HMRC, said: ‘As a barrister Agbaje should have known better than to try to cheat the system. He thought he was above the law but HMRC will not stand by while criminals try to cheat the taxpayer. Declaring and paying VAT due is a legal requirement – not a lifestyle choice – so we are pleased that justice has been served.’
Agbaje was suspended from 1 Gray’s Inn Square last year pending the outcome of proceedings and subsequently left, according to The Lawyer. The Times reported that Agbaje, now of Slough, Berkshire, was living in Bexleyheath in 2008 at the time of his final arrest.
