A fraudster from Lee has been jailed for four years after claiming almost £1 million in tax repayments through his failing businesses.

Peter Davis, 58, was the owner of Formula 1 Teamwear and operated shops in Liverpool, Glasgow, Cardiff and west London.

Between 2009 and 2013 he fraudulently submitted 17 VAT returns to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to falsely claim repayments of £961,307.

Investigators found Davis received subsidies from the shopping centres where his shops were based. However, all the outlets failed with rent often being unpaid and some customers complaining of never receiving goods after paying online.

Davis also ran an Italian restaurant, Salerno’s, near Tower Bridge, where he falsely claimed £58,507 in four VAT submissions and failed to declare half of his sales.

Davis was jailed on Friday (July 29) at Southwark Crown Court for four years after pleading guilty to fraudulent evasion of VAT.

Judge Michael Hopmeier told Davis: “These were serious, sophisticated frauds carried out over a long period of time, by deliberate dishonesty and virtually from the start of trading.

“Offences of this nature - fraud on the revenue - are not victimless. Government and public services are funded by tax, there are no other sources of income – this means hospitals, schools, roads and benefits are all paid for by tax.

“Stealing money from public funds means less money for these services.”

Daren Cooley, assistant director of the fraud investigation service at HMRC, added: “Davis lied over and over again to steal taxpayers’ money to help fund his businesses and lifestyle.

“He foolishly thought he could carry on cheating the public by setting up new businesses built on a house of cards.”

The process of recovering assets from Davis has now begun and he has been disqualified from being a company director for seven years.