A Birmingham company director, who claimed to run a business producing whisky, chutney and jam, has been sentenced after it was revealed it was just a front for him to steal almost £110,000 in a tax fraud.

David Valentine, 56, admitted six offences of fraud and money laundering after a joint investigation by HMRC and British Transport Police, who had found him with a bank card in another person’s name.

HMRC officers discovered that Mr Valentine had used the stolen identity to register the company, Dunthwaite Estate Ltd. However, when officers visited the premises, there was no distillery or preserves making equi...