Blackpool nightclub boss and accountant guilty of £5m tax fraud

A Blackpool nightclub owner and his accountant have been found guilty of their involvement in a £4.9m tax fraud.

Paul Kelly, who owned a string of bars and pubs across the North West, evaded paying millions in tax, with help from his “crooked accountant” John Parry, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said.

Kelly, 63, from Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire, and Parry, 70, from Wilmslow, were convicted of cheating the public revenue and perverting the course of justice following a trial at Preston Crown Court.

The court heard Kelly splashed hundreds of thousands of pounds from the proceeds of his crimes on luxury items, including a yacht, Bentley and Rolls Royce cars, and a £100,000 watch, HMRC said.

HMRC officers arrested Kelly at Gatwick Airport on his return from a trip to Barbados in November 2018, and Parry was interviewed on the same day.

A search of Kelly’s home uncovered bundles of cash and at one of his business premises investigators found digital files proving Kelly had not been declaring profits.

He had also submitted fraudulent VAT returns and deducted tax and National Insurance payments from employees’ salaries, but failed to give the money to the tax office.

• Kelly was found guilty of 17 counts of cheating the public revenue and one count of committing an act/series of acts with intent to pervert the course of public justice
• Parry was found guilty of one count of cheating the public revenue and one count of committing an act/series of acts with intent to pervert the course of public justice.

Zoe Gascoyne, deputy director in HMRC’s fraud investigation service, said: “Paul Kelly abused his position of trust to steal from clients and staff members, and John Parry assisted him in further stealing from the taxpayer.

“Tax fraud is never a victimless crime and the eye-watering sums he spent on cars and jewellery should have been funding the public services we all rely on.”

The men are due to be sentenced at the same court on 25 July.