Money launderer jailed as £60m HMRC fraud investigation ends
A BIRMINGHAM money launderer has become the final defendant to be sentenced in a major international VAT and money laundering plot which saw HM Revenue & Customs defrauded of £60m.
Kuldip Singh Sander, aged 50, of Perry Barr, has been sentenced to seven years for money laundering offences under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Sander, a prolific horse racing gambler, played a pivotal role in the offences and had responsibility for overseeing the money laundering part of the fraud.
The sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court marks the end of a nine-year investigation, codenamed Operation Capri, by officers from HMRC.
The investigation led to five separate trials which have seen 17 defendants – including 11 from the West Midlands – jailed for a total of 59 years.
The operation saw officers successfully unravel a complex multi-million VAT ‘missing trader’ fraud, orchestrated by the criminal gang. The conspiracy also included the laundering of the proceeds and involved the corruption of a serving Customs Officer and a bank official.
Adrian Farley, assistant director for HMRC, said: “This was not some kind of victimless crime, but organised fraud on a massive scale perpetrated by criminals all bent on making fast and easy profits at the expense of the British taxpayer.
“This was theft of revenue needed to fund our country’s public services but instead it fuelled their elaborate lifestyles. ‘Missing trader’ fraud is not merely a paper fraud but often features links to other forms of criminal activity such as drug smuggling and violent crime.”
The court heard the gang fraudulently evaded VAT of around £60m within the computer chip and mobile phone industry and laundered the proceeds of the crime. This provided a luxury lifestyle for those involved including ringside seats for the world title fight between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis in 2002 in America.
Investigations by HMRC involved breaking the audit trail of businesses based throughout the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
In July 2002, in one of the largest operations ever undertaken, some 200 HMRC officers targeted private and business addresses, following a thorough and comprehensive investigation.
They arrested and subsequently charged 17 people with a number of offences including Conspiracy to Cheat the Public Revenue, Corruption of a Customs Officer and Money Laundering Offences.
The sophisticated scam involved the setting up of numerous false VAT registered businesses, bogus bank accounts opened by a bank official from Barclays Bank and the corruption of a Customs Officer.
