Corrupt former taxman Michael Allcock has been made bankrupt by his ex-employers the Inland Revenue.

Mr Allcock, of Acland Avenue, Lexden, Colchester, was made bankrupt in a court after a petition was filed in February.

The amount of debt concerned has not been made public.

But it is known the Inland Revenue had issued a writ demanding Mr Allcock repay the money he received from corrupt handouts, which according to evidence in his trial was £150,000.

Mr Allcock, formerly of East Hill, Colchester, was jailed for five years in 1997 after being found guilty of six charges of accepting bribes from wealthy foreign businessmen.

The jury decided the tax inspector accepted the services of a prostitute and former page three model Michelle Corrigan, cash gifts and a luxury holiday as rewards for favouring the wealthy businessmen he was investigating. He was cleared of five further charges of corruption.

Mr Allcock denied all charges and maintained he had done nothing wrong.

He claimed he had taken his powers - as a member of the Ghostbusters team looking into high-profile cases of tax evasion and fraud - to the limit and took gifts to get closer to those he was investigating.

He was released from prison in August last year after serving half his sentence.

A spokeswoman for the Ipswich-based Official Receivers today (Thursday) confirmed Mr Allcock had been made bankrupt and the petitioner was the Inland Revenue.

The bankruptcy order was made against him on April 6.

The spokeswoman said: "He is subject to a bankruptcy order and his case will be administered here."

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