Administration and appeals: HMRC man stole from taxpayers

Administration and appeals: HMRC man stole from taxpayers

An HMRC debt collection officer who admitted stealing almost £85 000 from taxpayers was jailed for two and a half years. Hereford Crown Court heard that Geoffrey John Eley aged 45 of Bromsgrove Road Redditch pocketed cash taken from 15 taxpayers he visited between 2001 and 2007. 'Eley conned the taxpayers with photocopies of official HMRC receipts leading them to believe that they had settled their debts ' HMRC said. He tried to cover his tracks by crediting the taxpayers' accounts with payments received from other taxpayers. Joff Parsons head of HMRC's Internal Governance Criminal Investigations said the department had taken steps to ensure that the 'abuse' could not be repeated. 'Corruption amongst our staff is rare and will not be tolerated ' he added.