A former property developer who hijacked details of an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands and forged documents to commit fraud and evade VAT on a property in Kensington has been jailed.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators discovered in June 2011 that Keith Conner, 55, used the details of Pruton Investment Holding Ltd, to buy and sell a residential property in Thurloe Square.

He was also found to be trading while disqualified as a company director, and sentenced to three years and seven months behind bars.

After selling the Thurloe Square property, Conner forged a Power of Attorney document, in the name of a Malaysian businessman, to transfer the £309,000 profit into a company bank account he controlled.

A similar property deal in October 2011 involved the purchase and immediate sale of a business property in Earl’s Court Road, Earl’s Court.

Conner again hijacked the details of a company to commit the fraud, this time a UK based company, Bishopsgate Homes Ltd.

Investigations showed signatures had been forged on the contracts, leading to £331,000 in profit from the sale being paid into another bank account Conner controlled.

The directors of the UK business had no involvement with their company being used for such a transaction.

None of the profit from either sale was declared to HMRC, meaning the tax was not paid, and as a business property, VAT was due on the Earl’s Court Road purchase and sale.

Conner, from Gardeners Lane in Romsey, Hampshire, failed to declare or pay this money to HMRC, evading £150,000 in VAT.

He also used counterfeit "proof of funds" letters to carry out the fraud and was trading while disqualified as a company director.

Conner lived an affluent lifestyle in his multi-million pound former Ascot home, and pleaded guilty to five offences at Reading Crown Court in January 2016.

Sentencing was delayed until Friday April 21 to allow Conner time to sell his Ascot home to pay any future confiscation order, which was set at £640,709 at the sentencing hearing.

This includes £150,000 to be paid to HMRC for the VAT evaded.

Conner was further disqualified as a company director for seven years.

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