Former road sweeper, 55, who ran a scheme owing the taxman £171,000 avoids jail

Simon Stepsys, 55, from Nantwich, Cheshire, ran a 'get rich quick' scheme. He was caught up in a tax fraud and was sentenced to a suspended jail term. His company Simon Stepys Success International was forced into liquidation due to unpaid tax. He spent the money on himself and his wife Julie. The company was wound up between 2016 and 2019. It was unable to produce any accounts from the period 2016 to 2019, so the official receiver was not able to deal with it. In 1998 the Office of Fair Trading accused Stepyse of 'preying on the vulnerable' with home-working schemes that promised lucrative returns.