HM Revenue & Customs (National): Birmingham gambler jailed for £60 million fraud

A Birmingham money launderer has become the final defendant to be sentenced in a major international VAT and money laundering plot which stole £60 million from the public purse. He was jailed today for seven years at Birmingham Crown Court.

The sentencing marks the end of a nine-year investigation by officers from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) code-named Operation Capri. Seventeen defendants in five trials have now been 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 of these crimes and involved the corruption of a serving Customs Officer and a bank official.

Kuldip Singh Sander of Perry Barr, Birmingham, a prolific horse racing gambler, played a pivotal role in these offences and had responsibility for overseeing the money laundering part of the fraud.

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.”

He added:
“We have worked closely with law enforcement agencies in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Ireland on this case and will not stop in our fight to win the war on crime. We will take every action possible to identify and eradicate corruption to maintain the integrity and reputation of our organisation.”

The court heard the organised crime group fraudulently evaded VAT of around £60 million 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.

On sentencing Sander, The Recorder of Birmingham, His Honour Judge Davis QC, said:
“You have been convicted for offences of laundering substantial proceeds of crime in a sophisticated fraud on the revenue." He commended the role of HMRC Criminal Investigation officers.

Five trials have taken place four at Northampton and one at Birmingham Crown Courts since May 2005. All have been subject to stringent reporting restrictions – all of which have now been lifted.

Notes to editors

1. Photographs of the majority of defendants are available on request.

2. The role and details of the defendant sentenced today 5 April 2011 at Birmingham Crown Court include:
* Kuldip Singh Sander (12.10.60) of Perry Barr, Birmingham, was sentenced to seven years for money laundering offences under the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

3. The roles and details of the defendant sentenced on 15 January 2007 include:
* Brian Tucker (29.04.53) of Dyas Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, was sentenced to three years for money laundering offences under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £43,119.
Tucker ran business accounts in the name of Probus Computing and Aslan as a front for laundering the proceeds of the fraud. He was promoted to company secretary of Talkback (UK) Ltd, used to ‘purchase’ goods from missing traders.

4. Roles and details of defendants previously convicted and sentenced in August 2006 include:
* Carl Harte (11.08.68) of Manor Abbey Road, Halesowen, Birmingham, was sentenced to five years in prison on two counts, one of five years and one of three years to run concurrently for money laundering under the Criminal justice Act 1988. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £42,073. He was also disqualified for ten years from being a Company Director.
Harte worked for Barclays Bank as a ‘special business relationship manager’ and under this role opened a bank account in the non-existent name of Clive Charles Stocks. £3 million was laundered through this account. He also worked with his brother-in-law, William Wright, and used Wright’s company, Applied Services, as part of the missing trader scam.

* Raghbir Singh Hayer (30.10.52) of Grangemouth Road, Radford, Coventry, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £100,651. He pleaded guilty to money laundering offences under the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
Hayer was responsible for laundering around £1 million through his business account Alfastar.

* Mohammed Munir Chaudhary (26.06.52) of Bradgate Road, Altrincham, Cheshire, was sentenced to three years in prison. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £293,791. He pleaded guilty to money laundering under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. He was also disqualified for ten years from being a Company Director.
Chaudhary was a company secretary of a business called Cableframe Telecom Ltd. He allowed his business to trade in computer processing chips totalling £141 million. VAT of £21 million was never accounted to HMRC.

* Stephen Farrell (07.05.59) of Warley Road, Oldbury, West Midlands, was sentenced to two years in prison. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £127,000. He pleaded guilty to money laundering offences under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. He was also disqualified for ten years from being a Company Director
Farrell ran two businesses (with Harris) £2.5 million was laundered through Bluestar Communications and £2.8 million was laundered through Solmec Ltd. These companies laundered monies generated by Prestige and others.

* Philip Leslie Harris (30.05.45) of Ferndale Road, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. He pleaded guilty to money laundering offences under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. He was also disqualified for ten years from being a Company Director.
Harris ran two businesses (with Farrell) £2.5 million was laundered through Bluestar Communications and £2.8 million was laundered through Solmec Ltd. These companies laundered monies generated by Prestige and others.

* William Gary Wright (21.06.63) of Northfields Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham, was sentenced to three years in prison. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £38,273. He pleaded guilty to money laundering offences under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. He was also disqualified for ten years from being a Company Director.
Wright worked with his brother-in-law Harte, and used his company Applied Services as part of the missing trader scam.

* Anthony Howard Campbell (07.02.49) of Moorcroft Road, Birmingham, was sentenced to two years in prison on two counts of two years to run concurrently. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £932,000. He pleaded guilty to money laundering offences under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Campbell was responsible for laundering around £1 million through his account as a bookmaker.

5. Roles and details of defendants previously convicted and sentenced in September 2005 include:
* Enda Moen (18.05.56) of Green Park Manor, Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland, was sentenced to prison on two counts of three and a half years to run concurrently. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £91,429. He pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Cheat and as an Agent Agreeing to Accept Bribe under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.
Moen, a former Customs Officer knowingly provided documents and information in return for money.

* Brendon McAleavey, (20.07.61) of Concession Road, Cullaville, Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland, was sentenced to two years in prison. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £12,000. He pleaded guilty to Agreeing to Bribe an Agent (Moen) under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.
McAleavey acted as a third party between Simons and Moen.

* Philip Wharam (08.03.59) of Roundwood Hall, Horsehill, Horley, Surrey, who purchased a Lordship with his crime profits, was sentenced to six years in prison. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £400,000. He was found guilty by a jury for Conspiracy to Cheat the Public Revenue.
Wharam was a director of a company called Prestige Trading Worldwide Ltd. Using a series of ‘missing traders’ his actions alone saw him evading VAT of £27 million and a further £4 million from the Dutch arm of the company.

* Michael Marsden, (07.11.54) of Park Avenue, Barking, Essex, was sentenced to four years in prison. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £3.67 million. He was found guilty by a jury for Conspiracy to Cheat the Public Revenue.
Marsden ran Mars Enterprises Inc., a registered trader purporting to buy goods from missing and hijacked traders and making payments of fraud proceeds to other accounts. The company was also used as a money laundering vehicle and evaded £2.8 million in revenue.

* Leroy McIntosh (01.07.55) of Berkswell Hall, Meriden Road, Coventry, was sentenced to five years in prison. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £3.67 million. He was found guilty by a jury of Conspiracy to Cheat the Public Revenue.
McIntosh collected laundered cash after it had been withdrawn from Mars Enterprises Inc., and supervised the purchase of high value prestige motorcars on behalf of Simons using the proceeds of the fraud.

* David Dwyer (30.01.63) formerly of Goodrest Farm Barn, Goodrest Lane, Kings Norton, Birmingham, and later of 41 Langford Avenue, Great Barr, Birmingham, was sentenced to four years. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £15,000. He was found guilty by a jury of money laundering under the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
Dwyer ran a company called Aslan Creations which received money by electronic transfer from Prestige Trading Worldwide Ltd and Mars Enterprises Inc. He supervised the laundering of proceeds of the fraud through the Aslan account. He made regular withdrawals of substantial cash sums from £10,000 to £170,000.

* Darren Cleveley (16.12.66) of Clent View Road, Bartley Green, Birmingham, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. A Confiscation Order was successfully obtained for £270,750. He was found guilty by a jury for money laundering offences under the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
Cleveley laundered money through his business account Modular Solutions. Like Dwyer and Tucker he was responsible for the withdrawal of large cash sums.

6. Roles and details of defendants previously convicted and sentenced in February 2005 include:
* Dean Simons (30.06.68) of Harwood Drive, Hinckley, Leicester, was sentenced to five years in prison to run consecutively to a five-year sentence he was serving at that time for a similar offence. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced for Conspiracy to Cheat the Public Revenue. 
Simons was a prime mover behind the fraud and oversaw the operation of the ‘missing trader’ fraud, using bogus bank accounts and through a number of different ‘front’ companies including Prestige trading Worldwide UK and Prestige Bv (a Dutch company).

7. Confiscation Orders of £13 million have so far been secured. Further confiscation proceedings are ongoing.

8. Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC), or ‘missing trader’ fraud as it is more commonly known, is a highly sophisticated EU-wide scam and an organised criminal attack on the UK VAT system. It sees criminals import high value goods such as mobile phones and computer chips, free of VAT, from other countries in the EU. These goods are then sold in the UK with VAT attached, but the criminals disappear with the tax they have collected instead of handing it over to HMRC. 

9. To view the photographs associated with this release, please use the link below:
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=419006&NewsAreaID=2&ClientID=257

10. Follow HMRC on Twitter at: @HMRCgovuk

NAT 26/11

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