An East-Midlands based serial fraudster has been jailed for nearly five years after repaying a tax fraud debt with money stolen in another scam.

Duncan Johnson, 57, from Oakham in Leicestershire, admitted a £107,000 tax fraud but promised to repay the money, resulting in sentencing being postponed for six months.

However, HMRC investigators discovered he was raising the money to pay the debt through a second scam that involved stealing over £500,000 from other businesses.

Mr Johnson orchestrated the first fraud by submitting fake VAT returns over a 17-month period from April 2013. In order to avoid paying VA...