A £1 million Midland tax fraudster who fled his trial to avoid accounting for "gaping holes" in his defence has finally been brought to justice. Craig Rees spent more than two years on the run but was arrested in the Czech Republic in March, having claimed to be in Ukraine.
Birmingham Crown Court was told the 52-year-old was tracked down after sending an email claiming he did not have access to a phone, despite a default signature saying the message was sent from his iPhone. HMRC said an extradition order was approved by a Czech regional court on March 27 and Rees, formerly of Shakespeare Avenue, Warwick, was returned to the UK on April 9.
He admitted a bail offence and was sentenced earlier this week to a consecutive six-month term, having already been jailed for seven years in his absence in 2024 for his part in attempting to steal £1 million in a "staggering and audaciously dishonest" film-related tax fraud. His trial was told the charges related to inflated or completely made-up claims to HMRC for tax relief for the production costs of three separate films.
Deliberate Departure
An HMRC spokesman said Rees was sentenced on Wednesday, with the judge saying it was no coincidence the fraudster had deliberately departed to prevent cross-examination of evidence he had given and avoid "facing the gaping holes" in his account. The court heard there had been extensive efforts from HMRC's fugitive unit to locate, arrest and return Rees, including work across multiple European jurisdictions.
The judge said Rees had sent a number of messages promising to return but had only been brought back to the UK due to "significant time, resource and expense" on the part of the relevant authorities. Ben Close KC, prosecuting, told the court Rees had failed to attend day 51 of his trial in January 2024 and had emailed to say he had travelled to Ukraine, HMRC said.
Arrest in Manchester
The HMRC spokesman said officers had also arrested a 36-year-old man in Manchester on Thursday on suspicion of assisting an offender in connection with the inquiry. The man has been questioned and released under investigation, the spokesman said.
Rees and his 54-year-old brother Carl Rees, who was also jailed for seven years in 2024, were both convicted at trial of two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue. Jurors were told the brothers submitted fraudulent Film Tax Relief and VAT claims.
To qualify for Film Tax Relief at the time they made their claims between 2011 and 2015, at least 25% of production costs had to relate to activity in the UK. An HMRC investigation found their claims were fraudulently inflated for the first film, which was moved to the United States.
The second film was entirely made up, and the third movie was produced in the US purely to submit further fraudulent claims, HMRC said.
