Khalid Javid, 67, of Stepps, North Lanarkshire, was handed a community payback order at Glasgow High Court yesterday and ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work within 18 months.

Mr Javid had pleaded guilty last month to recklessly submitting false VAT returns that under-declared more than £136,500 over a three-year period. Reporting restrictions on the case were lifted following his plea.

His clients, restaurateurs Antonio Carbajosa, 41, and Kevin Campbell, 44, were each jailed for three years in 2025 after admitting a £682,882 VAT fraud carried out between November 2011 and October 2016. The pair operated several Glasgow venues, including Halloumi, Pickled Ginger and Cranside Kitchen. Mr Javid was identified during the HMRC investigation into the restaurateurs but faced a separate charge, The Scotsman reports.

Sentencing, Lord Young told Javid his offence differed in character from those of his co-accused. “As a professional accountant you acted recklessly by submitting these VAT returns. You did not benefit from the VAT under-declarations,” the judge said, adding that Mr Javid was a man of good character with a commendable work history until “this very late aberration”.

Solicitor advocate Marco Guarino, representing Mr Javid, said the case had hung over his client for nearly a decade and exacted an “incalculable” physical, mental and professional toll. He urged the court against a custodial sentence, telling Lord Young his client “accepts he allowed his professional standards to slip and fell foul of the procedures”.