A crooked tax agent and accountant - who is also an internationally-ranked chess player - has been jailed for 10 years after being found guilty of stealing more than £750,000 in a tax and mortgage fraud.

Robin Moss lied about his income, made bogus claims in the names of unsuspecting clients and provided false documents for fraudulent mortgage applications.

The 58-year-old Leicester accountant and tax agent was convicted in his absence at Nottingham Crown Court of tax fraud, money laundering, mortgage fraud and theft following a joint investigation between HMRC and Leicestershire Police.

Mr Moss persuaded one client to pay a £53,000 tax bill through his firm but then paid it straight into his bank account rather than forwarding it to HMRC. Other clients had their HMRC details used by Mr Moss for tax rebates which he then had paid into his own bank accounts.

Mr Moss used hundreds of thousands of pounds from the proceeds of his crimes on luxury items, including more than £115,000 on collectible Moorcroft pottery, £89,251 on gold coins and £18,930 on jewellery.

His wife, 49-year-old Liliana, admitted a £115,000 money laundering charge on 9 June.

They both failed to attend sentencing yesterday (9 October). Robin Moss was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Liliana Moss was sentenced to seven months in prison, suspended for 12 months.

Nick Stone, operational lead in HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said: “Robin Moss abused his position of trust to steal from clients and the taxpayer. Tax fraud is never a victimless crime and the eye-watering sums he spent on pottery and gold should have been funding the public services we all rely on.

“I hope this sentence serves as a warning to the minority of corrupt professionals who wrongly believe they can use their knowledge to commit fraud.”

Former Leicestershire Police detective Jason Helm, who now works for the East Midlands special operations unit, said: “It took the jury just 55 minutes to find Robin Moss guilty, and I’m glad they saw how this so called ‘professional’ was taking advantage of his clients, who believed his work was genuine.

“He went to great lengths to hide his criminality, shown in a complex web of transactions which proved how he converted his criminally-obtained funds into cash and high value items.”

A third person, Rajvir Sahota, admitted mortgage fraud using false documents supplied by Mr Moss. He pleaded guilty in May 2021 and was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months, on 9 October 2023.