A skilled boatbuilder who created false invoices and fake bank accounts to cheat the taxman has been jailed for three and a half years today (Tuesday).

Donald Ladell ran two Tavistock-based firms and fraudulently claimed £278,150 of VAT repayments and paid the stolen cash into his own bank account.

The 41-year-old sole director of modular construction firm Built and Spaces Ltd and entertainment venue Spyderstudios inflated the amount he spent buying an aircraft fuselage in order to reclaim VAT. He also claimed for computers he never bought.

HM Revenue and Customs officers arrested him at his home in Whitchurch Road, Horrabridge in August 2023 and a search of his premises found digital files proving he had submitted 14 false VAT returns over a two-year period from May 2021.

Ladell was previously jailed for two years after he forged a letter from an Arab sheikh to con investors out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Then aged 25, he forged a letter from the ruler of Dubai in which he appeared to be offering to invest £75 million into a multimillion pound plan for a marina in Southend – and convinced investors they would get a return on their investment.

Today (Tuesday) at Plymouth Crown Court the father of three was jailed again after he admitted two counts of cheating the public revenue and one charge of money laundering.

The court heard Ladell claimed he made nothing from the two firms but had paid himself £78,000 as a salary.

His defence barrister said things unravelled for Ladell and quickly descended into dishonesty but did not fund a lavish lifestyle.

Judge Matthew Turner said the taxpayers’ money was not available for others who had to shoulder the burden.

The judge said there was an element of sophistication  and concealment of evidence in the case.

He jailed Ladell for 42 months on all the charges and banned him as a company director for seven years.

The judge said he was surprised there was no confiscation hearing in this case as Ladell has a physical asset and there was no order for costs and compensation.

An HMRC spokesperson said:"Tax fraud is not a victimless crime. It has real consequences for the public services we all rely on and we are working hard to ensure tax cheats like Donald Ladell do not gain an unfair advantage over their law abiding competitors who pay the tax that's due."