A City barrister tried to con the taxman out of £17.5m in VAT by pretending he bought some jet engines in Croydon, a court has heard.

John Wilmot, 35, told Customs and Revenue he bought four Boeing 747 engines for £100m in Croydon, stored them in a warehouse and then sent them to a man he met at a garden party, care of Basra Airport.

He backed up his alleged dishonesty with a series of fake documents to support claims about a "business sideline", Southwark Crown Court was told.

"If his story had been true, if there had indeed been a business deal involving the purchase and sale of four jet engines on the terms described by him to the tax authorities, then he would have been entitled to receive a VAT repayment of £17.5m," said David Walbank.

"But the essential point in this case is that his story was not true," he claimed.

"It was completely bogus and completely dishonest and it was designed by him solely for the purpose of dishonestly obtaining £17.5m of taxpayers' money, to which he was not entitled.

advertisement"Fortunately he was found out and the payment was never made. Instead he was arrested and subsequently charged," the barrister added.

Wilmot, who lives in accommodation at Temple Chambers in the City, denies one count of cheating the public revenue on October 1, 2006, and March 21 last year.

The case continues.