Warwickshire marketing bosses jailed after causing £5m losses to HMRC

Gareth Donald Onions was jailed for five years and six months, while David Ronald Webb was jailed for four years and two months for defaulting on their tax liabilities, resulting in a cumulative debt of more than £5 million to HMRC.

The pair, both from Warwickshire, were joined in court by Glenn Andrew Delany, from Birmingham, who was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years, after he helped Onions and Webb carry out their offences. 

"Onions and Webb deliberately stole taxpayer’s money to fund their lifestyle and showed a total disregard for their employees," said Ian Hackett, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC. 

During proceedings, the court heard that Onions and Webb bought a field marketing company in 1997, assisting consumer brands market and promote their products in retail outlets. The marketing firm traded as The Brand Company and between 1997 and 2013 operated under the guise of seven different limited liability companies.  

However, according to the tax authority, the last of the seven companies, DSPS Field Marketing Ltd, went into voluntary liquidation in April 2013 after which it was uncovered that Onions and Webb not only owed millions to HMRC but they had also breached their directorship disqualifications.

Together with HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, the Insolvency Service uncovered that The Brand Company submitted their last annual accounts in 2002 before defaulting on their tax liabilities, resulting in a cumulative debt of more than £5 million to HMRC. This was despite the marketing company continuing to deduct tax and National Insurance from their employees’ salaries.  

To help hide their activities and to prevent any recovery action by their creditors, including HMRC, it was uncovered that Onions and Webb repeatedly closed the operating company before purchasing the assets themselves through a new company in a succession of pre-pack administration deals. 

This allowed the marketing bosses to start up all over again under a different name so that The Brand Company could continue trading undetected.

Further inquiries by the Insolvency Service, also found that the pair had both been disqualified twice while running the marketing company. Webb received directorship disqualifications in 2008 for five and a half years and a further five-year ban in 2010, while Onions was banned in 2010 for four years and another five-year ban in 2013. 

While the bans should have restricted their ability to manage limited companies, this did not deter Onions and Webb. Throughout this period, the tax authority found that not only did the marketing bosses keep the same workforce and deal with existing customers, the pair enjoyed substantial salaries and lavish expenses all billed to the company. This included private healthcare, expensive company cars, golf club membership and the use of company credit cards for personal use. 

"By working with partners such as the Insolvency Service, we can effectively tackle tax evasion, which deprives us all of money that should be funding our public services," said Mr Hackett.  

He encouraged anyone with information about tax evasion to report it online or call the Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.