Former Ascot property developer jailed for £640k fraud

A former Ascot property developer, who hijacked details of an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands and forged documents to commit fraud and evade VAT, has been jailed for three years and seven months. He was also trading while disqualified as a company director. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators discovered that in June 2011 Keith Conner, 55, hijacked the details of the British Virgin Islands registered company, Pruton Investment Holding Ltd, to buy and sell a residential property in Thurloe Square, Kensington, London. Conner then forged a Power of Attorney document, in the name of a Malaysian businessman, to transfer the £309,000 profit from the London sale into a company bank account he controlled. A similar property deal in October 2011 involved the purchase and immediate sale of a business property in Earls Court Road, Kensington. Conner again hijacked the details of a company to commit the fraud, this time a UK based company, Bishopsgate Homes Ltd. Investigations showed that signatures had been forged on the contracts, leading to £331,000 in profit from the sale being paid into another bank account Conner controlled. The directors of the UK business had no involvement with their company being used for…

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