Nightclub boss and accountant face the music

A Blackpool nightclub owner and his accountant have been convicted for their involvement in a £4.9 million tax fraud.

Paul Kelly, who owned a string of bars and pubs across the North West, evaded paying millions in tax, with help from his crooked accountant John Parry.

Kelly submitted fraudulent VAT returns and deducted tax and National Insurance payments from employees’ salaries but failed to pay it to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Kelly, 63, splashed hundreds of thousands of pounds from the proceeds of his crimes on luxury items, including a yacht, expensive Bentley and Rolls Royce cars, a £100,000 watch and a £2,000 Versace dining service set.

Zoe Gascoyne, Deputy Director in HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said:

“Paul Kelly abused his position of trust to steal from clients and staff members, and John Parry assisted him in further stealing from the taxpayer.

“Tax fraud is never a victimless crime and the eye watering sums he spent on cars and jewellery should have been funding the public services we all rely on.

“I hope this result serves as a warning to the minority of corrupt professionals who wrongly believe they can use their knowledge to assist clients committing fraud.

“We can and will work with our law enforcement partners to bring you to justice and we encourage anyone with information about any type of tax fraud to report it online.”

HMRC officers arrested Kelly at Gatwick Airport on his return from a trip to Barbados in November 2018. Parry was interviewed on the same day.

A search of Kelly’s home uncovered bundles of cash including £29,190, 6,283 US Dollars, 3,000 Euros and 800 Singapore Dollars. The money was seized and forfeited in September 2019.

A further search of one of the business premises found digital files proving Kelly had not been declaring profits and had underdeclared VAT for several bars over a six-year period from March 2012.

Kelly and Parry were found guilty of cheating the public revenue and perverting the course of justice after an eight-week trial at Preston Crown Court which concluded this week (23 April 2025).

They are due to be sentenced at the same court on 25 July 2025.

Action to recover the proceeds of crime is underway.

Notes to Editors

1. Broadcast interviews are available on request.
2. Paul Kelly DOB: 10/02/1962, of Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire, was found guilty of 17 counts of cheating the public revenue and one count of committing an act/series of acts with intent to pervert the course of public justice, at Preston Crown Court on 23 April 2025. The perverting the course of public justice offence is linked to a 2017 conviction for a planning enforcement breach brought by Blackpool Borough Council. Proceeds of Crime proceedings were subsequently brought to establish the benefit Kelly gained from the breach. During the course of the proceedings Kelly - with the encouragement and assistance of Parry - introduced false documents. The documents were tax returns (that were never filed with HMRC) and were intended to mislead the court into believing income had been returned and tax paid to HMRC.
3. John Parry DOB: 19/07/1954, of Chapel Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, was found guilty of one count of cheating the public revenue and one count of committing an act/series of acts with intent to pervert the course of public justice, at Preston Crown Court on 23 April 2025.
4. Find out more about HMRC's approach to tax fraud at GOV.uk.
5. Follow HMRC’s Press Office on X @HMRCpressoffice.