Scrap Metal Scam Bosses Jailed Over £17 Million VAT Fraud
Ringleaders Locked Up
Anthony Bond, 65, of Great Missenden, and his bookkeeper Stephen Goble, 66, from Tring, were slammed with jail sentences totalling more than 12 years back in April 2019. Bond was handed seven and a half years, while Goble got five. Now, the final gang member has been caught.
Last Gang Member Sentenced
Yesterday, Taylor Sullivan, 31, from Bushey, was sentenced for ripping off the public revenue by pretending to be a fake scrap metal dealer. Sullivan worked for Bond’s operation The Bond Group, based in Chesham, and ran 3Li Ltd, a sham company that falsely claimed to sell £4 million in metals to the Bond Group.
The High-Stakes Fraud Scheme
Bond and Goble masterminded a massive “missing trader” VAT scam. They used a web of companies to fake millions in VAT payments to suppliers over six years. Their trick? Using “missing traders” — businesses they knew would vanish without paying VAT — to pocket £17 million that should have gone to HMRC.
The crime spree funded Bond’s lavish life. He splurged on a five-bedroom mansion, a Spanish holiday home, a fleet of luxury cars including a Bentley, Aston Martin, and Range Rover, and over £500,000 worth of bling.
HMRC Strikes Back
Tracey Noon, Assistant Director of Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC, blasted: “These men stole vast amounts of money they neither earned nor deserved, taking millions away from vital public services in the UK. Fuelled by greed, they thought the scam was too clever to catch – but they were dead wrong. The ringleaders are now behind bars.”
Sullivan pled guilty at Southwark Crown Court in March 2022 and received an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, in April 2022.
