Two brothers have been convicted of committing tax fraud while running construction installation companies in Hull. The proceeds of the brothers’ fraud amounted to more than £7 million.
Father of seven, Mark Stead, spent his ill gotten gains on funding his children’s private education, boats, caravans and overseas holiday homes, and dragged other family members and company employees into his scheme.
David Stead, his brother, and wife Jennifer Everett also appeared in court, along with his PA, Denise Milestone, and IT Consultant, Benjamin Wragg. All had previously pleaded guilty to fraud with the exception of David Stead who was convicted at trial.
Mark Stead ran two companies: Pink Innovations and Pink Services Ltd, from Hull and the village of Laceby, situated to the south of the Humber near Grimsby. Between 2010 and 2018 he failed to pay VAT and took £250,000 of National Insurance deductions from employees without passing the money to HMRC. Pink Innovations had previously been found guilt of unlawfully deducting sums from employee salaries.
His accomplices were drafted into the scheme between 2015 and 2017. They contributed to the deception by falsifying documents including bank statements, employee records and invoices, and lying to cover up the paper trail, which was discovered in 2017 when HMRC inspected company records. Mark Stead took around £2.2 million during this time. Milestone lied to an HMRC compliance officer to prevent them from speaking to Mark Stead by falsely claiming him to be in hospital. He asked her to “take care of the VAT lady” to which she later replied by email: “Team Stead strikes again”.
Mark Stead’s solicitor in court described him of being of “previous good character” and said that his seven children had only that week learned of his custodial sentence. Ms Everett’s solicitor urged the judge to give her a suspended sentence, saying she was “under the influence of him”, although she admitted to having enjoyed “the spoils” of crime.
In their defences, David Stead said he was acting out of “family loyalty”, Ms Milestone argued that she caring for her grandchildren and sick husband, and Wragg said he had recently been diagnosed as autistic which would make jail difficult for him.
Only Mark Stead and Jennifer Everett are understood to have gained significantly from the fraud.
Mark Stead was jailed for six years, his brother for two and a half years, Wragg for two years, and Everett and Milestone for 18 months.
How can having a criminal record affect your ability to buy a home in the future?
When buying property with a mortgage, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 gives you the right not to disclose ‘spent’ convictions to banks, building societies or mortgage brokers – even if asked. However, ‘unspent’ convictions must be disclosed, if you are asked.
Mortgage lenders each have their own criteria, and applying for a mortgage with a conviction on your record can result in you being declined, whether spent or unspent.