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Weightlifter Terrance Perdue jailed for VAT fraud Weightlifter Terrance Perdue jailed for VAT fraud
(about 1 hour later)
A Welsh Commonwealth Games weightlifter who failed to pay more than £300,000 of VAT on his scrap and waste businesses has been jailed.A Welsh Commonwealth Games weightlifter who failed to pay more than £300,000 of VAT on his scrap and waste businesses has been jailed.
Terrance Perdue, 44, also failed to stick to environmental regulations at his industrial yard in Webbons Way, Townhill, Swansea.Terrance Perdue, 44, also failed to stick to environmental regulations at his industrial yard in Webbons Way, Townhill, Swansea.
Perdue, from, Swansea, admitted VAT fraud and the environmental offence.Perdue, from, Swansea, admitted VAT fraud and the environmental offence.
He was jailed for 18 months and banned from acting as a company director for seven years at Swansea Crown Court.He was jailed for 18 months and banned from acting as a company director for seven years at Swansea Crown Court.
Judge Mark Powell told Perdue: "You have caused considerable distress to your family and, indeed, to those people who have relied on you to give them an introduction to the sport that a large number of people derive an immense benefit from."
The court heard Perdue represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in 1994, 2002 and 2006 and was a reserve for Great Britain at the Greece Olympics in 2004.
A joint investigation by HMRC and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) was launched into three scrap and waste businesses he ran from Webbons Way.
NRW officers inspected the site three times between October 2012 and February 2013.
They found he was dealing with "end-of-life" vehicles and electronic waste without the proper permits or without sticking to the relevant environmental exemptions.
Judge Powell said Perdue "deliberately chose to flout" the regulations in order to save up to £15,000 worth of licensing costs.
'Pocketing VAT'
Tax inspectors also discovered Perdue, who now works for Swansea council via an agency, had failed to submit VAT returns after 2009.
Analysis showed he had failed to pay £327,000 of the tax on payments received totalling more than £3.3m.
Perdue's counsel, Ian Wright, said the father-of-two, who also works as regional development officer for weightlifting through Sport Wales, had shown remorse.
Jailing Perdue, Judge Powell said the weightlifter had "brought honour" to himself and Wales in his sporting achievements.
However, he added: "You knew what you were doing and I consider, in these circumstances, the sentence I should impose is one of immediate imprisonment."
Speaking after the sentencing, Colin Spinks from HMRC said: "He knew full well that by pocketing the VAT his customers had paid to him, he was breaking the law.
"He now has to pay the price for his criminal activities."