A partner in a leading Bradford restaurant faces a £500,000 tax bill and six-figure legal costs after failing in a High Court appeal over unpaid VAT.

But Dr Gul-Nawaz Akbar, one of the partners in Mumtaz Paan House, vowed to continue the legal fight to clear his name.

The owners of the restaurant in Great Horton Road were ordered to pay back £204,000 in tax and an extra evasion penalty of £197,000 in January 1998 by a VAT tribunal. Interest must also be paid on the figure.

Now Dr Akbar is hoping to take the matter to the Court of Appeal after the High Court upheld the tribunal decision.

Commenting on the High Court ruling, the chartered accountant acting on behalf of Mumtaz today said Dr Akbar was determined to clear his name.

Ian Fleming, of Armstrong, Watson & Co, said: "Dr Akbar is absolutely adamant he has not been guilty of any dishonesty.

"It is very difficult to overturn a tribunal decision on dishonesty. I can't quote figures, but Dr Akbar is facing a huge legal bill. He is determined to clear his name."

The VAT tribunal agreed the Mumtaz partners operated a series of scams, including recording restaurant bills as non-taxable cold food and totalling tills twice a day but declaring only one amount.

It said Dr Akbar acted dishonestly by deliberately withholding till rolls from Customs & Excise officers.

And the tribunal held him "personally responsible for making incorrect declarations" between November 1992 and July 1995.

At the High Court appeal, barristers for the Mumtaz argued the VAT assessment had been based on random till readings, and that Dr Akbar was unaware of the evasion.

But, upholding the tribunal's decision, Mr Justice Dyson said: "There was ample material on which the tribunal could find proof that Dr Akbar was aware of the existence and general contents of the missing readings...and had deliberately withheld production of the missing till rolls which would have revealed a true picture.

"The challenge to the finding that Dr Akbar acted dishonestly for the purposes of evading VAT must therefore be rejected."

Customs & Excise first alerted Dr Akbar to the potential tax evasion in 1992 and fraud officers began monitoring takings in 1994.

They decided the till was being incorrectly operated and the true amount of hot food sold was about 93 per cent.

In interviews and at the tribunal hearing, Mumtaz partners blamed staff for acting without permission.

Customs & Excise spokesman Rob Hastings-Trew said: "We are pleased that the tribunal's ruling has been upheld by the High Court

"But we would much rather work with the business community and ensure people pay the right tax at the right time rather than take a matter to court."

Mr Hasting-Trew said the £500,000 assessment and evasion penalty was one of the largest incurred in northern England.

He added that the legal cost of bringing the case -which may have to be paid by Dr Akbar -was already "substantial".

Dr Akbar's solicitor, Ian McCombie, of Leeds-based McCombie & Co, said an application to appeal had already been issued.

He said: "We believe the whole basis for the original decision was fundamentally flawed and the related damage to Dr Akbar's reputation quite dreadful.

"Dr Akbar is perfectly aware that other people may just roll over and accept the decision against them.

"It is a trying thing that he has to go through all these stages to get justice. Fortunately he has the determination."

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