Four arrested in construction industry VAT probe

FOUR people have been arrested in dawn raids by police investigating an alleged £2m VAT repayment fraud linked to the construction industry.

Three men and a woman were arrested on Thursday in the raids on four houses in Stoke on Trent in an operation that also saw eight others detained in Cheshire, Manchester and Suffolk.

The operation was led by criminal investigators from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), supported by police forces across the regions inlvolved.

Adrian Farley, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said: “Today’s arrests are a result of many months of investigation across the UK to unravel what is believed to be a major fraud.

“One of our key priorities is to identify the abuse of our tax systems by organised crime gangs stealing vast amounts of public money for their own gain. Working closely with other law enforcement agencies we will unravel cases of complex fraud and bring those responsible before the courts.”

Those arrested are believed to be part of an organised crime gang purporting to trade in construction industry equipment and concrete crushing machines in a version of ‘missing trader’ fraud. This sees the creation of a contrived chain of companies, which reclaim VAT they have never actually paid on the sale of equipment in the UK and when the goods are exported. It is thought the goods never even existed.

Twelve search warrants were executed – eleven at residential properties and one at a business property – in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Manchester and Suffolk. Paperwork including bank accounts and computers were seized along with live ammunition, CS spray and an imitation firearm.

All defendants were arrested on suspicion of Conspiracy to Cheat the Revenue and Money Laundering offences under Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and are currently being questioned by HMRC criminal investigators at police stations across the UK.