A gang who made a film starring a former Eastenders actor solely as a £2.8m tax scam have been convicted at Southwark Crown Court.
HM Revenue and Customs found ‘A Landscape of Lives', which it claimed starred several A-list actors with a budget of £19m, was never intended to be filmed. The gang successfully claimed £1.5m in VAT along with £1.3m in film tax credits before attracting the attention of HMRC. In an attempt to cover their tracks, Bashar Al-Issa, Aoife Madden, Tariq Hassan, Ian Sherwood and Osama Al Baghdady then made a film with the changed title ‘A Landscape of Lies', starring former Eastenders actor Marc Bannerman and Loose Women presenter Andrea McLean, on a shoestring budget. John Pointing, assi...
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