Fraudster spent £100k on Thailand holidays and posted pictures with ‘prostitutes’ on Facebook
A fraudster spent £100,000 of stolen cash on luxury trips to Thailand – and kept a Facebook diary as he cavorted with a string of ‘prostitutes’.
Tamworth car salesman Adam Lapworth, 32, has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after stealing a total of £265,000 from taxpayers, which he also splashed on drugs and gambling.
Birmingham Crown Court heard the conman had set up a fake company, ADL Tech UK, and submitted four year’s of false VAT returns to defraud the taxpayer.
After his arrest Lapworth initially claimed the crimes took place because of depression.
But investigators from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) discovered he had withdrawn £100,000 for luxury trips to Thailand – with a Facebook diary showing him dancing and sharing baths with scantily-clad Thai women.
During his fraud-funded holiday, Lapworth kept followers updated with pictures of himself with half naked women on beaches and in baths.
One video also showed him gyrating with a woman in a nightclub.
Investigators found that he spent a further £78,572 on online gambling, £18,985 on rent and gifts, and £895 on online pornography and prostitute directories.
The brazen crook also paid £59,790 to his drug dealer, while a further £9,000 related to fraudulent Tax Credit payments.
During the investigation, Lapworth claimed he could not be interviewed in person as he would be abroad for months, before posting a written confession to HMRC.
Lapworth, of Orton Road, Warton, pleaded guilty to fraudulent VAT claims and Tax Credit fraud at Birmingham Crown Court on April 13, when he was also jailed.
In a Facebook post made the day before he was jailed he said: “I am facing the biggest challenge tomorrow and the foreseeable future but I promise that I will carry on doing the right things and will see you all again one day in the future.
“Your love and support for me will always be remembered and never be forgotten. Take care all and thank you again and see you all soon.”
Two months before sentencing, on his birthday on February 11, he also posted: “I’m 32 and finally feel like I’ve grew (sic) up.
“I’m the happiest I’ve been and enjoy my ‘normal’ life these days.”
Source: Birmingham Mail
