A 63-YEAR-OLD man who used multiple bank accounts to hide over £40,000 in rental income he received from three properties in Enniskillen has received a suspended jail sentence for tax fraud.

Philip Fee, a self-employed ice cream salesman from Drumbeg, Enniskillen, faced one count of cheating the public revenue and a further 10 counts of money laundering.

Fee was charged with cheating HMRC of income tax and national insurance contributions by failing to declare all of his income between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2014.

He was further charged with six counts of concealing criminal property, three counts of converting criminal property and one count of transferring criminal property.

The money laundering charges related to two properties in Drumbeg and a further property on Derrin Road.

Fee had entered guilty pleas to all 11 charges at an earlier appearance before Dungannon Crown Court.

At his sentencing in Dungannon last Thursday, His Honour Judge Stephen Fowler QC imposed a jail term of two years and eight months on the defendant, which he then suspended for three years.

The defendant’s offences came to light following an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Investigators examined a number of bank accounts linked to Fee that showed he had been hiding his true income for a number of years.

Between 2008 and 2014, Fee received £41,376 in rental income and did not declare his profits from self-employment, evading around £25,000 in income tax.

Confiscation proceedings are underway to recover the proceeds of his crime, the HMRC has confirmed.

Speaking after the hearing, Steve Tracey, Assistant Director of the HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “Fee seemed to believe that the rules simply didn’t apply to him. Despite generating large sums of money from rental income he acted as if he was above the law and above paying the tax due on his profits.

“Tax fraud isn’t a victimless crime, it is theft and money that should have been funding vital public services is being pocketed by fraudsters and criminals. If you know of anyone who is committing tax fraud you can report them to HMRC online or contact our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”