Slough Accountant found guilty of fraud
An accountant from Slough, who also served as a local magistrate, was convicted at Winchester Crown Court yesterday (15/2) of defrauding his clients, false accounting and perverting the course of justice.
Nirmal Kumar Sharma, 46, of Langley Road, Slough, was found guilty on seven counts of deception, one charge of false accounting and one of perverting the course of justice. He was found not guilty of three further counts of deception.
The charges relate to work carried out by Sharma in his role as a Slough accountant who ran his own company, Sharman Associates Ltd. At various times between 1996 and 2003, Sharma was engaged as an accountant by three small businesses: Vanity Lingerie Company Ltd, trading in Luton; New Technology Training Ltd, which no longer trades, and Countech Computer Systems, trading in the Slough area.
Over a period of years, Sharma told his clients that they owed payments to HM Customs and Excise or the Inland Revenue when they did not. He deceived the owners of the three businesses into issuing cheques for amounts ranging from approximately £2,500 to £10,000, then used these cheques to pay other companies’ debts or simply paid them into his own relatives’ accounts.
Sharma’s clients were recommended to him by friends and trusted him implicitly, knowing that he was well-established in the community and also worked as a magistrate at Slough Magistrates’ Court. As young, new businessmen, the owners of the companies in question were unaware that they were overpaying taxes until they changed to a new accountant.
When the irregularities were spotted, they were reported to police, who began an investigation. Sharma was arrested in July 2003 on suspicion of theft, false accounting and deception. Officers seized paperwork relating to the three victim companies, together with a computer.
Over the next year, extensive inquiries were made with HM Customs and Excise, the Inland Revenue and local Slough banks, sifting through tax payments made by the three companies since 1996. The evidence gathering was completed by November 2004 and Sharma was rearrested. He was again released on bail and finally charged in January 2005 with deception and false accounting.
The trial was originally scheduled to start in January 2006, but was adjourned for additional evidence. In December 2005, the owner of one of the three victim companies was contacted by a man acting on behalf of Sharma, who said he wanted to resolve the matter and was coming to the company owner’s house. The offer was declined and the police were called. As a result of this incident, Sharma was charged with perverting the course of justice.
Det Sgt Nick Burleigh, who led the investigation, said: “This has been a very long and complex case. Mr Sharma was a serving magistrate and a highly respected member of the community, who abused the trust of his clients. His conviction sends out a clear message that no-one is above the law.”
Following yesterday’s verdict, Sharma was remanded in custody to await sentencing in March. Police have served notice of profit confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Thames Valley Police ~ Slough