HMRC officer jailed for stealing £85k from taxpayers

Laura Miller
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An HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) debt collection officer has been jailed after pleading guilty to stealing almost £85,000 from taxpayers.

Geoffrey Eley, 44, who worked collecting overdue payments from taxpayers, has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison at Hereford Crown Court, the Redditch Advertiser reports. Between 2001 and 2007, Eley visited businesses and individuals door-to-door, taking cash payments from 15 taxpayers which he then pocketed. He conned taxpayers with photocopies of official HMRC receipts, leading them to believe they had settled their debts with HMRC. Eley, a serving HMRC officer of almost 27 years, stole a total of £84,950 while individual amounts taken from taxpayers ranged from £1,...

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