Bent businessmen ‘cheated the taxman out of £500k’

Two businessmen built up a property empire during the housing boom and cheated the taxman out of more than £500,000, a court heard. Himat Chana, 58, and Pritam Virdi, 56, allegedly failed to pay capital gains tax after selling more than 40 properties between 2002 and 2009. The pair failed to hand over £545,000 owed to HMRC, Southwark Crown Court heard. Prosecutor Hugh French said: ‘This is a tax fraud. All of us, of course, have to pay tax as…