Getting his teeth done in Turkey was 'worst mistake' - now he owes £100k
A Welsh scaffolder who previously complained about his Turkey teeth has now been exposed as a tax cheat.
Matthew Bowen, from Rhondda Cynon Taf, dodged £103,408 in tax, according to HMRC's latest list of deliberate defaulters.
The self-employed man was repotedly slapped with a hefty fine of £66,956 by HMRC for evading tax payments from April 2018 to April 2024.
Last year, we covered his story about his botched dental procedure in Turkey, which he branded "the worst mistake" of his life after shelling out £14,000 on the operation, travel, and accommodation, only to claim his new teeth began to "fall apart" within weeks.
The 36-year-old, residing in Bryntirion, Ynysboeth, Abercynon, told Wales Online over the phone this week that it was the first he'd heard of his tax evasion.
However, the publication reports that this claim doesn't add up with HMRC's procedures, which involve giving each defaulter the opportunity to dispute the publication of their details before they're listed.
He promised to return their call within half an hour but failed to do so. Upon contacting him the following day, he said: "I dunno what to say to be honest. I've been trying to contact HMRC but I'm on hold. If I thought I done wrong I wouldn't be trying to ring them."
In the title's previous conversation with Mr Bowen regarding his dental disaster, he shared that he had worked tirelessly, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, for two years prior to his January 2023 operation in pursuit of a "perfect smile".
Did his aspirations lead him to twist the truth with his tax returns? "No," he said, denying tax evasion or knowing about HMRC's concerns.
Last year, Mr Bowen revealed his dental troubles started aged 19, when he sustained a broken jaw from an assault in Tesco. "All my teeth started crumbling after that," he explained.
The crowns he wanted were not covered on the NHS and getting them fitted privately in the UK would have cost him £27,000, he said. When a friend from Turkey recommended a clinic in his home country, Mr Bowen flew out to Marmaris for a £7,800 operation.
Mr Bowen had 18 teeth taken out and 12 metal implants inserted into his jawbone, topped off with porcelain crowns. However, he claimed that the crowns began to disintegrate within weeks, prompting him to return to the clinic in August 2023 for further unsatisfactory treatment.
"I've got a big gap from my gums to my teeth," he claimed last year. "You can see all my saliva coming through the tops of my teeth."
The dentist responsible, Dr Aras Selcuk, defended his work at the time, asserting: "This is the only patient with problems so far. Everyone is happy, only this guy is not... I told him the saliva between the gum and the teeth is normal."
In our initial conversation, Mr Bowen mentioned he was working long hours to save up for another operation to achieve the smile he desired. Asked recently for an update on his dental situation, he simply stated: "They're the same."
Individuals or businesses land on HMRC's list if they've deliberately failed to pay over £25,000 in tax. HMRC asserts that the purpose of this list is to "influence behaviour by encouraging defaulters to engage with HMRC".
After a year, the names of these defaulters are wiped from the record.
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