Whilst HMRC’s top ten tax fraud and organised crime cases of the last year doesn’t quite tally with the title of the famous John le Carré novel, the list still makes for interesting and sometimes dramatic reading. A would-be spy, accountants, data thieves and organised criminal gangs all featured in recent criminal cases.

The publication of the list carries a very serious message. HMRC’s fraud investigations led to 762 individuals being convicted in 2017 for their part in tax crimes, resulting in sentences totalling more than 1,000 years. In addition, HMRC has charged suspects in over 1,000 new cases of tax fraud.