Former boss of Telford firm barred from directorships

Jason Tsai, an ex-managing director of Changtel Solutions UK, which was based at Stafford Park 6, in Telford, has been disqualified having "caused or allowed" the company to "participate in transactions connected with the fraudulent evasion of VAT", documents from HM Revenue & Customs, the Insolvency Service reveal.

The document says the evasion of VAT caused "significant losses" to HMRC, worth millions of pounds.

A document, which was published by the Insolvency Service, states: "Between 29 June 2007 and 10 December 2010 . . . Jason Tsai caused or allowed Changtel Solutions UK (formerly ENTA Technologies Limited), to participate in transactions which were connected with the fraudulent evasion of VAT, such connections being something which Mr Tsai either knew or should have known about."

The document also states that Mr Tsai was aware or ought to have been aware that MTIC VAT fraud – where VAT is charged on the sale of goods but not handed over to the government – was "rife in the trade in which ENTA Technologies Limited (ETL) engaged".

A report filed at Companies House by Changtel Solutions' liquidator Begbies Traynor said the company was wound up in January 2015 by the Court of Appeal, following a petition by HMRC in 2013 in respect of the company's VAT liabilities.

The company's collapse came after a battle with HMRC, which claimed it owed £15.5 million in VAT – which was denied by Mr Tsai. The IS document said that between 2007 and the close of 2010, ETL was involved in 107 wholesale transactions, 79 of which the report claimed were traced back to "defaulting traders", incurring tax losses of at least £15.6m.

A further 25 were tracked to defaulting traders, via a contra trader, and those defaulting traders incurred tax losses of £5.4m to HMRC.

"Tsai caused or allowed ETL wrongfully to claim input VAT of at least £19,504,917 from HM Revenue and Customs in relation to the 06/2007 to 12/2010 VAT periods," the IS document says.

"Despite being aware of VAT fraud in ETL's trade sector and engaging in transactions bearing the features of such fraud, Mr Tsai failed to ensure that ETL carried out effective steps, check and/or due diligence in respect of its four trading partners involved in its wholesale export transactions."

According to Companies House, Mr Tsai, whose last known address was in Birmingham, had also been a director of another company, technology distributor Entatech UK, based on the same site in Telford. The 65-year-old ceased being a director of Entatech UK in 2013, and no longer has any involvement in the company.

Entatech UK, which is now owned by Stevinson Capital, settled a long legal battle with the liquidators of Changtel Solutions last year, after the liquidator made a claim for assets bought from Changtel by Entatech UK before the former went bust.

Changtel's last full accounts, for the year ending February 28, 2013, show that it turned over about £160 million and employed 114 people, but was dormant by the time it entered liquidation.