AN ESSEX fraudster who was jailed for a VAT scam must now sell his home, luxury cars and expensive watches to repay £3.3 million he stole, a city court ruled.

Robert Waterman, formerly of Chigwell is currently behind bars after a HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation found he created a fake trade in computer memory sticks to fraudulently claim £4.7m in VAT repayments between April 2013 and March 2015.

At a court hearing that took place on yesterday at Chelmsford Crown Court, Waterman was ordered to pay £3,354,173.68 within three months or serve a further eight years in prison and still owe the money.

Waterman must now sell his assets including a £1.15 million home, a Land Rover Sport, a Lexus, a Mercedes, another property in Ilford and various expensive watches after a court ordered him to hand over the money.

The 44-year-old has three months to repay the criminal profits or he faces another eight years in prison. He was jailed for six years at Chelmsford Crown Court in October last year.

Waterman’s fraud involved reclaiming VAT on memory sticks he said had been exported to Dubai through his company Asset Innovations UK Ltd.

In fact, there were no memory sticks. Waterman was faking invoices and posting empty parcels to a PO Box address in Dubai.

He used the fake trade to make monthly VAT claims. Another £530,000 he claimed was stopped as HMRC investigators closed in on his fraud.