Formby dad boasted he was a ‘money-making machine’ but then his nightmare came true

A dad boasted that he was a “money-making machine” before his nightmares of the taxman catching up with him came true. Alastair Ramage and Ian Barnes “lived the high life” through a lucrative business in importing and selling teeth whitening products, treating themselves to Land Rovers, designer goods, expensive jewellery and luxury holidays.

But the two businessmen were secretly swindling close to £9million from the public purse by failing to pay VAT and income tax. This led to the former “starting to have nightmares about being caught by HMRC” five years into the con, with his co-conspirator having joked that he would need to sell his boat and houses as a result.

Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Friday, that Barnes and Ramage evaded nearly £9million which was due to HM Revenue and Customers over a seven-year period between 2016 and 2016. This £8,499,384.47 figure included £5,307,549 in unpaid VAT from dealings undertaken by their business UK Teeth Whitening Ltd, later known as IBAR Trading UK.

Nicola Daley, prosecuting, described how this involved the setting up of various companies in the UK, Seychelles and Hong Kong, with 44-year-old Ramage, of York Close in Formby, having also evaded income tax amounting to £1,228,792. For 53-year-old Barnes, of Southport Road in Lydiate, this figure stood at a total of £1,912,075.

Both men were said to have “lived the high life” as a result of their fraudulent activity, with one message from December 4, 2017 having read: “In a few hours we’ll be in first class. F*** the peasants.”

Another, sent from Barnes to Ramage, went on to state “46k a month, long may it continue”, while a further exchange in November 2018 boasted: “Just think how life was before Hong Kong. Now jetsetting over the world, platinum, living the high life.”

Ramage later crowed “I’m a money-making machine, I especially like spending it”, before telling Barnes after being informed that “their friend had been raided by HMRC”: “Does he charge VAT? If so, why? Madness. We’re talking millions and years in jail.”

‘It’s amazing how little money you make when you pay tax’

Records meanwhile showed the two men spending £51,000 with Emirates and £155,000 with Virgin Atlantic in the 2018/19 tax year alone. The 2019/20 period then saw £55,000 lavished on holiday destinations and hotels, as well as £86,000 at a Land Rover dealership, £56,000 at David M Robinson jewellers and more than £100,000 at other designer stores.

This splurge continued in 2020/21, when there were further “significant sums spent at designer stores”, as well as more than £100,000 on watches and £182,000 on cryptocurrency. But Ms Daley added: “Both continued to spend, but messages in January 2021 refer to Mr Ramage having started to have nightmares about being caught by HMRC, and, in July 2021, Mr Barton was joking, indicating that he would buy Mr Ramage’s boat and houses and Mr Ramage replying ‘need to before HMRC catches up with us’.”

Ramage was later said to have messaged a “contact” during 2022 discussing “doing some business legit”, stating: “It’s amazing how little money you make when you pay tax. We’ve spent tens of thousands of pounds and literally hundreds of hours trying to figure out ways not to pay tax.

“At the end of the day, you end up with money that’s difficult to use without raising questions. It’s like I have money now to buy a house, but I simply can’t buy one because the government asks questions. You can only buy unimportant s*** like bags and holidays.”

While Ramage went on to state that he planned to declare £200,000 as he “didn’t mind paying some tax to keep the eyes off us”, he was subsequently questioned by police in February 2023 and June 2024, with Barnes being interviewed in March 2023 and July 2024. Both answered no comment to all questions on each occasion.

From ‘living the high life’ to ‘drinking too much’

Barnes has six previous convictions for unrelated offences. His counsel Alaric Walmsley said on his behalf: “In short, Mr Barnes accepts that immediate custody is inevitable. He did not start the business intending to evade tax. He accepts that, very soon, the offending became serious and sustained. But there was a real business here. It is a shame that Mr Barnes did not run it lawfully”

Ramage meanwhile has no previous convictions. David McLachlan KC, defending, told the court this his client was “embarrassed and ashamed”, adding: “In relation to the nature of the tax evasion, it is my respectful submission that he never intended nor appreciated that this business would be as successful as it was.

“However, in a very short space of time, it was quite clear that it was making lots of money and he really should have done the decent thing, but he didn’t. To make matters worse, he lived the high life. At the outset, it was not a business he went into intending to evade massive amounts of tax and VAT. He did not appreciate the vast amounts of money that he was dealing with.

“He is 44 years of age, and he has never ever been before a court for sentence at all. Therefore, this is a significant moment in his life. In terms of his health, before this case came on top, he was living the high life. He enjoyed good health. Since February 2023, that being the date of the first interview, he has been drinking too much.

“In December 2025, he was prescribed benzodiazepine for anxiety. No doubt he is anxious for his 15-year-old son, who he had sole parental responsibility for. In the meantime, he has done the decent thing and arranged shared parental responsibility while he awaits the inevitable prison sentence.”

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Both defendants admitted three counts of being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of VAT and one of being knowingly concerned in the evasion of income tax. Having been due to be sentenced today, the case was ultimately adjourned until Friday next week due to a lack of court time.

Barnes, appearing in the dock in a grey Colombia coat, and Ramage, wearing a grey North Face tracksuit, were both remanded into custody until this date. Judge Katherine Pierpoint told them: “Unfortunately, because of the hour, I am not going to pass sentence today.

“Both defendants have been asked to be remanded into custody. I know that they have both come to court expecting to be going to custody this evening. Any time from now will count towards your eventual, inevitable sentence.”