Hollywood Conman Ends Up in the Can

The owner of a film production company based in Hollywood has been jailed for three years and eight months after stealing £1.6 million in VAT from the UK taxpayer, which he used in order to live a life of luxury in America. He has also been disqualified from acting as a company director for eight years.

Damita Nikapota, 47, is believed to have spent the money on luxuries such as a Spanish-style villa in Malibu, California, and in order to travel to Cannes Film Festival and Sri Lanka.

The Hollywood conman used his Los Angeles-based film company, AS Productions Limited, to made a number of fraudulent VAT repayment claims for film production costs totalling over £11 million. As well as claiming for costs while impersonating deceased Hollywood producers in order to validate his claims, he also sought costs for the employment of famous Hollywood actors and book adaptations.

His scam came to light following an HMRC investigation, which discovered that he had been removed from a film project he claimed his company was producing and filming called 'The Flying Scotsman'. It was also revealed that several of his companies that were linked to the project were in administration before he submitted his claims. The investigation resulted in his arrested by HMRC in April 2014, when he came to the UK for a short visit from Canada.

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