BBC Countryfile Star Farmer Jailed for £1.8M VAT Fraud. An award-winning farmer who featured on BBC Countryfile has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after he conned HMRC out of £1.8 million through VAT fraud.
Jack Stilwell – once crowned Young Farmer of the Year – was caught submitting fraudulent VAT claims for three of his agricultural businesses.
The 34-year-old, who rose to international prominence in the industry with his pioneering business model that saw him crowdfund to set up his first farm, ‘refused to play by the rules’, according to HMRC
HMRC, said it carried out a probe into Stilwell, from Hampshire, following his offences which took place between November 2021 and June 2022, and on 2 July 2022.
Stilwell’s first offence saw him submit 20 false VAT statements on behalf of Roundstone Beef Ltd, totalling £1,278,277.13.
The second conviction involved a single false VAT statement submitted in July 2022 for Greenwell Farms Ltd in which he claimed £37,621.00.
The third charge related to eight false statements submitted on behalf of Greenwell Holdings Ltd, amounting to £568,345.66.
Jack Stilwell, 34, from Hampshire, tried to rip off the government by submitting fraudulent VAT claims to a total of £1.8 million
Stilwell was previously awarded Young Farmer of the Year (pictured at ceremony) and appeared on BBC Countryfile
At Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday, Stilwell was jailed for two-and-a-half years for tax fraud after admitting three counts of furnishing false VAT returns.
A spokesperson for HMRC said: ‘Tax fraud is not a victimless crime. The tax we all pay helps to fund the public services we rely on.
‘The majority pay the tax that is due, but a determined minority refuse to play by the rules.
‘We are determined to create a level playing field to allow honest businesses to thrive and we encourage anyone with information about tax fraud or money laundering to report it online.’
Stilwell’s fall from grace comes after the farming prodigy set up his own beef farming business using money from the public via an industry-first crowdfunding campaign.
In his final year of study at Harper Adams University in 2015 when he was just 23 he set up a crowdfunder to raise £4,000 to buy beef cattle and rent land.
It was a campaign that ‘caught the attention of the agricultural press and farmers across the world’, the university proudly declared on its website.
A farm owner from the USA donated the full £4,000 and another in West Sussex offered him 600 acres of land as part of a farm-share project.
Stilwell, a cattle farmer, has now been jailed for more than two years after admitting the charges against him
In his final year of study at Harper Adams University, Stilwell launched a crowdfunder to help set up his first farm
His business flourished and grew to include over 200 Hereford and Aberdeen-Angus cattle, split across a number of farms.
In 2015 he was named Young Farmer of the Year at the Food and Farming Industry Awards, and he even appeared on the BBC’s Countryfile program in 2016 and 2017.
Stilwell recently opened up on his mental health struggles and shamelessly turned to the public again for cash as he set about raising money for The Farm Safety Foundation.
Writing on the JustGiving page at the time, Stilwell confessed he was ‘struggling in myself for a long while and lost my way’.
He gave his last update in February about his bid to run 500 miles in a year for the charity – when he had already pleaded guilty to VAT fraud and was awaiting sentence.
Stilwell added on the fundraising page: ‘As a farmer and business owner, I know the stresses and strains that starting and running an agricultural business can have on your body and mind.
‘This can affect other areas of your life and relationships. Sometimes, you just feel on your own and your thoughts can get as dark as they come. If you, or someone you care for gets to that place, it’s really important to know that there is always someone there to help.’
