Four men have been sentenced to a combined 22 years in prison at the High Court in Edinburgh after carrying out a meticulously organised VAT fraud worth nearly £9 million, the proceeds of which were lavished on gold bullion, diamonds, fast cars and property investments abroad.
Leslie Thompson, 63, of Bathgate, West Lothian, was identified as the ringleader of the operation and handed the heaviest sentence of seven years. Graeme Cullen, 54, of Giffnock, Renfrewshire, received six years, Graham Newall, 49, of Edinburgh, was jailed for five and a half years, and Martin Lang, 68, of Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, who pleaded guilty to more limited involvement, was sentenced to four years.
The fraud ran between September 2015 and June 2017, with Lang’s involvement confined to a shorter window between February and December 2016. The scheme centred on a network of companies — among them Linear Services, based in Livingston, West Lothian — that issued invoices to various businesses for payroll services and charged VAT accordingly. Rather than remitting that money to HMRC, the group siphoned it off into a web of bank accounts, distributing the funds among themselves, associates and family members. Linear had been established using the client base of a company previously shut down by HMRC.
Prosecutor William Frain-Bell KC described the operation as “incredibly simple” in its design but well-organised in its execution. “Set up the structure, get recruitment clients on board, collect as much VAT money as possible before HMRC cottoned on,” he told the court. The cash was then moved abroad to America and Bulgaria, with significant sums converted into gold bullion and diamonds. Trips to Malaga, attendance at the Grand National, high-end vehicles including Audi RS5s, Range Rovers and Mercedes, designer clothing, watches and fine dining all featured in the spending trail. A £1 million home was purchased, and plans were drawn up for a luxury property development in Bulgaria.
Lady Hood told the defendants at sentencing that their conduct had amounted to “sustained dishonesty” over a lengthy period, aggravated by links to serious and organised crime. “You each appreciate that a lengthy custodial sentence is inevitable,” she said.
Thompson, Cullen and Newall had all denied the charges during their earlier trial at the High Court in Glasgow. Thompson’s defence counsel noted his client maintained his innocence and faced losing his family home. Cullen was described as posing a minimum risk of reoffending, while Newall’s counsel said he was “genuinely remorseful.” Lang, who had cooperated and given evidence at the trial, was said to be in poor health.
It also emerged that Thompson had previously been jailed for six years at a London court in 2023 for conspiring to cheat the public revenue — making this his second significant fraud conviction.
Prosecutor Sineidin Corrins of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said the sentences carried a clear message. “Tax fraud is not a victimless crime,” she said. “It steals money that funds the public services we all rely on in Scotland and the rest of the UK.”
