Days out from jail for tycoon fraudster; EXCLUSIVE MASTERMIND BEHIND pounds 138 MILLION SCAM LANDS CUSHY JOB - JUST 2 YEARS INTO 12-YEAR SENTENCE.

Byline: BY JEANETTE OLDHAM Crime Reporter

ONE of Britain's biggest criminal bosses is enjoying days out from jail - just two years into a 12-year sentence.

Midland gangster Craig Johnson masterminded a VAT fraud that saw pounds 138 million stolen from the public purse.

He lived a superstar lifestyle on the proceeds and his extraordinary wealth included a stately home in Staffordshire, a helicopter, yacht and a fleet of cars including Bentleys and Aston Martins.

Just two months ago the crook was ordered to repay pounds 26 million to the British taxpayer at a confiscation hearing, or face a further 10 years in jail.

But the Sunday Mercury can reveal that far from languishing in a cramped cell, the fraudster has been enjoying freedom.

Since June he has been allowed out from Hewell Grange open prison on day licence to attend a 'plum job' at Birmingham Crown and Magistrates Courts - offering counselling advice to defendants facing jail.

Johnson is trusted with a pass to the two secure courts which gives full access to the buildings.

He is also allowed out from jail for the day four times a month to do whatever he chooses, including visiting family and friends, with the only condition being that he does not drink alcohol.

When our reporter contacted security guards based at Birmingham Magistrates Court to ask if Johnson was there, an insider said: "I've not seen him today. I expect he'll be back in again next week."

When we rang the Ministry of Justice to ask about the day release on Friday, a spokesman would only say: "We do not comment on individual prisoners."

But later that night a senior department source said: "Yes, he was allowed out.

"But he's now back in closed quarters. He was recalled to prison due to security reasons which we can't and won't discuss. He won't be allowed out again.

"We can't say any more about it at the moment."

Johnson's cushy job was arranged through the Insiders at Court scheme, a fairly recent project run between Hewell Grange and Reliance, a private firmthat manages security at the two courts.

Under the scheme inmates are allowed out during working hours to advise defendants who have just been sentenced on how best to cope with prison life.

A source said: "About two prisoners come at a time, about two or three times a week. I believe they're dropped off at Redditch train station at 8-ish in the morning and then travel by themselves to Birmingham city centre.

"It's considered a plum type of work to get. Johnson's been coming since about June last year.

" They have a little base at Birmingham Magistrates Court and share their working time between the two courts.

"They get phones too. They're kept in lockers at the prison and the men allowed out to work are given them then. They get a bit of cash to buy food. Johnson and the others get to go out at lunchtime. They can go where they want.

"Some of the men who go out to work even have their own cars parked at the prison.

"It's not the prison life the lawabiding public would probably like to imagine."

Johnson enjoyed a champagne lifestyle and bought eight-bedroom Meaford Hall in Staffordshire using the profits of the mobile phone scam.

But in 2006 he was jailed for 12 and a half years for leading the organised criminal gang who stole the pounds 138 million in a complex VAT fraud.

In November a judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court ordered Johnson to pay back pounds 8 million in the next year and the remaining pounds 18 million in two years, or face an extra 10 years jail.

HM Revenue and Customs fear that tens of millions of pounds has disappeared into off-shore accounts and dummy companies set up in tax havens across the world.

Customs officers have so far recovered almost pounds 6 million of assets from Johnson.

But they say there could be at least as much concealed from them in his own international bank accounts.

He was one of 21 criminals who carried out the 'missing trader' fraud, which involved the apparent import and export of mobile phones between different EU states.

Businesses illegally claimed back VAT on the 'imported' mobile phones - taxes that they had never actually paid. Such scams are said to cost taxpayers across Europe up to pounds 170 billion a year - twice the EU's annual budget.

[e-mail]

CAPTION(S):

LUCKY BREAK: fraudster Craig Johnson has gone from his mansion above to Hewell Grange below