A former tax officer who pocketed almost £7 million in cash from builders' pay packets has been ordered to repay cash or face more time behind bars.

David Hughes, known as Mike Hughes, was jailed in 2018 for his part in a tax theft conspiracy.

The globe-trotting tax consultant, who previously worked for Inland Revenue, posed as a payroll service provider but instead of directing the funds to the taxman, he used a network of bank accounts, UK and offshore companies to steal the money from clients.

Cash was taken by Hughes – formerly of Spendiff, Cooling near Rochester – and his co-conspirators and split between them instead of being paid to HMRC.

Hughes, who is serving nine-and-a-half years in jail, has now been ordered to repay £1.7m in the next three months or spend another four years in prison and still owe the money.

He was arrested in January 2018 at Heathrow Airport after arriving on a flight from Istanbul having spent the previous seven years in Chile, Dubai and Northern Cyprus – which does not have an extradition treaty with the UK.

The order to repay the money was made at Southwark Crown Court on Monday.

'Hughes abused a system which is supposed to ensure workers are paid correctly and taxes go to HMRC...'

The 55-year-old, who ran a series of accountancy businesses based in Rochester, was jailed after being found guilty on three counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue, two counts of false accounting and providing false information and one count of money laundering.

Three other men were jailed in 2016 for a combined total of 19 years.

Susie White, operational lead at the Fraud Investigation Service for HMRC, said: “Hughes abused a system which is supposed to ensure workers are paid correctly and taxes go to HMRC - instead he pocketed millions.

"If he doesn’t pay this confiscation order, Hughes, who is currently in prison, will stay there even longer and still owe the money.

“Our actions don’t stop once someone is convicted, we will look to reclaim the stolen money. If you know of anyone who is committing tax fraud, you can report them to HMRC online, or call our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”

Once he is released from prison Hughes will be subject to a three-year serious crime prevention order (SCPO) requiring him to comply with specific terms and conditions relating to his finances which, if breached, could lead to further prosecution or prison sentence.

HMRC has already secured confiscation orders totalling £3.5m from two co-conspirators.

The tax authority said it is working with the National Crime Agency (NCA) to counter the threat of payroll scams operating in the UK and is reminding businesses to carry out due diligence checks before appointing a payroll company to act on its behalf.

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Medway