A fraudster has been jailed after taking £71,000 from his ex-partner and hiding £200,000 in tax from HMRC.

Oliver Cooper, previously of Assart Way in Chippenham, appeared at Swindon Crown Court on Friday for sentencing.

The 33-year-old separated from his partner in May 2022 and then, two months later, started placing digital signatures onto documents which he generated to change the equity held in the property that he and his ex-partner jointly owned.

Officers arrested Cooper shortly after the crime was reported to Wiltshire Police and the ensuing investigation quickly established Cooper’s criminal acts and led to charges being authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service.

But the defendant continued to attempt to control and manipulate his victim through delays in the criminal and civil court processes for more than two years, until this all finally caught up with him.

He entered a guilty plea in March 2023 and has now been sentenced to two years and nine months in jail for these offences which caused a £71,000 loss to his victim.

Separately, he was subject to a criminal HMRC investigation into fraudulent VAT claims that he submitted on behalf of his cleaning company business between July 2019 and March 2022.

Cooper pleaded guilty to a £200,000 VAT fraud and a money laundering offence at Swindon Crown Court on May 31, 2024.

He also admitted forgery offences which included the creation of false documents, and failed attempts to gain access to his bank accounts that HMRC had frozen.

He received another two years and nine months in jail for these crimes, totalling five and a half years altogether.

Acting Detective Sergeant Martyn Powell from the South Volume Crime Team said: “Financial abuse is a form of domestic violence and is used to help the perpetrators control and manipulate the victim, leaving them unable to move on, to escape the abuse or at risk of other types of control.

“The police are fully equipped to investigate and identify methods of financial abuse. I hope that the sentence gives courage to urge all victims of domestic violence to come forward and seek support from us.”

Matt Moignard, Operational Lead in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “Fraudsters like Cooper think they can lie, cheat, and steal.

“We’re determined to create a level playing field for all and this shows how we work closely with our law enforcement partners to bring tax fraudsters to justice.

“Such crimes have real consequences for the public services we rely on and we encourage anyone with information about tax fraud or money laundering to report it online.”