Sheffield transport boss made to pay thousands of pounds over forged documents

A Sheffield businessman has been forced to pay more than £20,000 in VAT to Revenue and Customs after he was caught forging documentation.
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Timothy Reynolds was also banned from being a director of any company for the next two years, following a ruling at Sheffield Crown Court today, Friday, December 13.The court was told that, as director of transport firm Top Trucks and Trailers, Reynolds, of Woodhead Road, Wortley, had been watering down diesel fuel with kerosene, to make it last longer - but had evaded thousands of pounds in tax.When his vehicles were tested, while out on loan to third-party clients, they proved positive for kerosene on two occasions and were impounded.The court was told that in May this year, Reynolds forged documents and paid £7.000 to get vehicles returned.He then did the same in September, this time paying £1,141 to get the vehicles returned, said prosecutor Denise Breen-Lawton.She also said that Reynolds had posed as other people when sending emails to Revenue and Customs - on one occasion claiming they had been sent by a former employee called Claire, who Reynolds claimed had moved to Australia and they were no longer in contact. But enquiries discovered they were both still connected via social media.He also stalled responding back to emails from HMRC investigators, on one occasion claiming he had recently returned to work after an illness.“It is clear that Mr Reynolds sent that email and its attachments,” she said.HGVs cannot run entirely on kerosene, but it can be ‘cut’ with diesel, the court heard.Reynolds had initially denied two counts of forgery, but changed his plea last week, shortly before his trial was due to start.Reynolds was sentenced to a 12-month community order to include 150 hours of unpaid work. He was given until Wednesday, December 18, to provide receipts to the court showing that he had paid £22,855 in VAT.He was also ordered to pay £2,400 in prosecution costs, and banned from being the director of any company for the next two years.