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HMRC claws back £92.3m in record carousel fraud case

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9th Jul 2010
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HMRC secured its biggest ever confiscation order against two members of a VAT tax fraud gang who stole £37.5m.

Syed Ahmed of Buckinghamshire and Shakeel Ahmad of Middlesex, both currently serving seven year jail terms, were each ordered to repay £92.3m within two months or face an additional ten years in prison as well as still having to repay the money.

The 21-strong gang bought luxury houses in London, high performance cars, and built blocks of flats in Dubai after stealing £37.5m in a ‘missing trader’ VAT tax fraud.

“This is the largest ever confiscation order secured by Revenue & Customs at the end of one of our most complicated investigations. I believe it to be one of the largest confiscation orders in the UK to date,” commented Richard Meadows, assistant director of criminal investigation for HMRC.

“We are determined to bring to justice the criminals behind this type of fraud and take away the proceeds of their crime. We have worked very closely with the West Midlands Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART) and law enforcement agencies across the world to bring this case to a successful conclusion.”

The gang were found guilty of importing CPUs, mainly from Ireland, VAT free and then selling them on more cheaply with VAT added through a chain of companies involved in the scam. Once the goods had been sold on a number of times they would be exported back to the EU. The exporter would then claim a VAT credit from HMRC for the VAT paid on the purchase of the goods. The gang would divide the dishonest profits of the fraud and launder them through various bank accounts both in the UK and abroad.

Officers have restrained high value assets including:

  • A luxury flat in Knightsbridge worth £4.5m
  • A house in Harrow worth £2m
  • A house in Buckinghamshire worth £1.5m
  • A riverside flat in Battersea worth £500,000
  • Two apartment tower blocks in Dubai worth £80m
  • High performance motorcars including a Ferrari 360 Modena convertible and a Mercedes 500CL

They also gave ‘tainted gifts’ to their families including top of the range designer clothing, a Range Rover and cash totalling around £1m.

The judge stated the joint minimum payable by both defendants is £92.3m.

His Honour Lord Justice Richard Flaux said:“You are both complete liars and devious.You are adept at using others in an attempt to make your activities legitimate, creating a smokescreen to hide the value of your assets and conceal this from HMRC.” 

 

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