A transport director is being held in custody after appearing in court to face allegations that he duped the taxman out of nearly £400,000.
Company director Stuart Newing-Davis was remanded in custody after appearing in private at Perth Sheriff Court on a petition alleging large scale fraud.
Newing-Davis appeared in handcuffs after being arrested on a warrant which was issued when he previously failed to turn up for court and was said to be in France.
The petition against him contains several charges relating to large scale tax evasion totalling £387,027 over a two-year period.
The 46-year-old businessman is alleged to have filed a series of fraudulent returns which led to him avoiding paying £387,027.61 VAT to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
Newing-Davis, of Dunkeld Road, Bankfoot, faces nine charges of evading VAT between March 2010 and 15 June 2012.
It is alleged he used documentation to back up fraudulent returns to avoid paying £20,190.98 in January 2010, £31,500 in April 2010, and £45,991.52 in July 2010.
Over the following three quarterly returns he is alleged to have evaded sums of £38,496.83, £38,000 and £48,040.16.
He is also accused of repeating the offence to evade paying £47,430.42 for the quarter ending October 2011, followed by £54,880.24 in January 2012.
The final tax evasion charge relates to the period ending April 2012 and is for the largest sum to date of £62,497.46.
All the charges related to his period as company director of recruitment firm Trainpeople.co.uk and Ptarmigan Transport Solutions Ltd.
A final charge alleges that having been granted bail at Perth Sheriff Court on December 24 2013 he failed to turn up for a scheduled court appearance on August 12 last year.
Newing-Davis formerly ran Bankfoot Buses, which was ordered off the road by regulators for trying to imitate Stagecoach services by using similar livery and running free routes just ahead of their rival.
Bankfoot Buses built up a colourful reputation after being set up in 2007 by Newing-Davis and his wife Sarah.
Among the publicity stunts staged by the company were free wine and mince pies for Christmas shoppers and drivers wearing fancy dress.
Newing-Davis, who has reportedly been spending time in the Pyrenees area, has run several other companies, including a fire engine limousine hire firm called Red Hot Knights.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis rejected Newing-Davis’s plea to be granted bail and remanded him in custody after he made no plea or declaration in connection with the charges.