MARRIED fraudsters have been sentenced after using their position as company directors to steal more than £100,000.

Agboola Olawoyin, 42, and Olubukunola Olawoyin, 39, both of Millers Drive, Great Notley, were sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday.

They forged documents to steal VAT they charged the customers of their companies BDO Groups Limited and Quebec Management Consulting Limited.

Agboola Olawoyin, was jailed for 18 months after admitting four counts of fraud earlier last month and was banned from being a company director for three years.

His wife, Olubukunola Olawoyin, admitted fraudulent evasion of VAT and was given a six month prison sentence suspended for two years.

She was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and banned from being a company director for three years.

Their fraud was uncovered while HMRC officers, carrying out routine checks on another company, discovered the VAT registration number and VAT certificate from one of the companies listed were fake.

Investigators traced these details back to the Olawoyin’s company Quebec Management Consulting Ltd and found in total the pair had stolen £109,564.

Steve Bowling, assistant director at the Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: "The Olawoyins abused the trust placed in them by their customers, lining their own pockets with money needed for our public services, but they are now paying the price.

"Tax fraud is not a victimless crime and I would urge anyone with information about those involved to report it to us online, or contact our fraud hotline on 0800 788 887."

HMRC has started the process of recovering the criminal proceeds.