Ex-HMRC officer sentenced for helping husband launder £3.3m

A sacked HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officer who abused her position to help her husband launder £3.3 million of criminal cash has been sentenced.

Kuldip Badesha, of Chatham, Kent, used HMRC systems to produce letters that included fake National Insurance numbers and signatures.

The 46-year-old handed those details to her husband Ranbir Singh, who used them to open two of the 85 bank accounts, which he then used to launder money between 2015 and 2018.

Investigators discovered she was leading a lifestyle that was beyond her means, which included leasing an expensive Bentley car (pictured) and enjoying long-haul holidays.

Badesha, a former compliance officer, was handed a 14-month suspended prison sentence, after admitting a charge of misconduct in public office.

Ben Rollins, Internal Investigations, Head of Anti-Corruption, HMRC, said:

“This was an appalling breach of trust from Kuldip Badesha. She abused her position to help her husband launder millions of pounds. Money laundering allows criminals to profit from the misery they inflict on their victims and often funds even more serious crimes.

“We are absolutely committed to the highest level of integrity and will track down the tiny minority who let us all down by falling short of those standards.”

Badesha met Ranbir Singh (also known as Ray Singh Rana), also 46, just before he was jailed for 11 years for kidnap in 2008.

She continued the relationship when he was inside prison and married him while he was on weekend release in May 2013. The criminal money began to be laundered when he was on day release and continued after leaving prison on licence in June 2014.

Badesha did not change her surname or tell HMRC about her marriage and failed to notify HMRC of her partner’s arrests and convictions. She was arrested by officers from HMRC’s Anti-Corruption Unit in 2018 and dismissed in November 2019.

The entire source of the laundered money has not been identified. But some of the cash was linked to convicted financial adviser Stewart Mark Groves, who took money from a former England footballer and was jailed in 2019 for fraud.

The pair changed their pleas to guilty just days after their criminal trial started at Southwark Crown Court on September 16, 2024.

Today (November 27) Ranbir Singh was jailed for six years and Kuldip Badesha was handed a 14-month suspended prison sentence at Southwark Crown Court.

Ranbir Singh was previously convicted of three other offences following recent police investigations and is currently serving more than six years for fraud, money laundering and sexual assault.

Action to recover the proceeds of crime is underway.

Notes to Editors

1. Ranbir Singh Rana, aka Ray Singh or Ranjit Singh Rana, DOB (27/05/1978), of HMP Wandsworth, pleaded guilty to converting criminal property and transferring criminal property contrary to section 327(1)(c) and (d) of the Proceeds of Crime Act (2002). He was sentenced to six years in prison at Southwark Crown Court on November 27 2024.
2. Kuldip Badesha, DOB (23/01/1978) of Cockpit Pilot’s View, Chatham, Kent, pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office whilst acting as a public officer at HMRC. She was sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for 18 months at Southwark Crown Court on November 27 2024.
   
3. You can find out more about HMRC's approach to tax fraud at gov.uk.
   
4. Follow HMRC’s Press Office on X @HMRCpressoffice