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Categories: crime

A recent seizure made by HMRC

Cigarette tax gap halved

A new report published today shows HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has slashed the tax gap on illicit cigarettes and tobacco by more than half since 2005. Between April 2023 and March 2024 HMRC also secured prison sentences totalling 148 years against 107 cigarette and tobacco fraudsters.

Stephen Hirst and Michael Hirst

Brothers sentenced for offshore tax scam

Two brothers, Stephen and Michael Hirst, have been sentenced for a 3.2 million offshore tax scam. The brothers used offshore companies to hide money from the sale of land in Wakefield, to evade tax. They were given the chance to pay what was owed through a Contractual Disclosure Facility but failed to do so.

Ehsan-Ul-Haque Dawood Patel and Hifzurrehman Patel

Leicester rag trade fraudsters jailed

The directors of a Leicester clothing company that supplied well known high street and online retailers have been jailed for a £1.3 million tax fraud.

Shahid Mohammad

Car finance fraudster jailed

A gang that set up 90 bogus companies in a bid to steal more than £800,000 in a VAT and car finance fraud have been sentenced to more than 10 years.

Carl and Craig Rees

Siblings made-up movie in £1m tax fraud

Brothers who tried to steal £1 million in a ‘staggering and audaciously dishonest’ film tax fraud have been jailed for a total of 14 years.

Cross-country enquiries into suspected electronic till fraud

Cross-country enquiries into suspected electronic till fraud

Takeaways across England have been subject to unannounced inspections as part of an Electronic Sales Suppression (ESS) probe. The action by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers took place at a total of 17 different outlets in London, Ipswich, Manchester and Newcastle over the last month. It follows several separate till fraud enquiries, which include the arrest of a 47-year-old man.

Ringleader Mohammed Zafer and cash seized from the gang

Gang jailed for laundering £26m

A gang that sent £26 million of dirty money to Dubai after depositing criminal cash at banks a dozen times a day for nearly a year have been jailed

Anthony Bond

Gold bars sold to repay VAT fraud

Gold bars, luxury watches and rare coins will be auctioned off to recover public money stolen in a VAT fraud. Anthony Bond, 66, from Great Missenden, Bucks, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in April 2019 for a ‘missing trader’ VAT fraud.

Businesses targeted across Britain as part of till fraud probe

Businesses targeted across Britain as part of till fraud probe

More than 20 takeaways and restaurants in Edinburgh, London, St Helens and Stoke have been subject to unannounced visits as part of a crackdown on electronic till fraud. The action by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers took place over the last four weeks, with 24 hot food takeaways and restaurants targeted.

The advert posted by the fraudster on social media sites boasting it was undetected

HMRC snares website scammer 6,500 miles away

Cybercrime experts at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have helped bring down a prolific fraudster who sold scamming software to criminals across the world

VAT fraudsters stripped of luxury mansion

VAT fraudsters stripped of luxury mansion

Two VAT fraudsters, who chose to spend an extra decade in prison rather than pay back stolen cash, have had their £2.1m Buckinghamshire country house sold by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Syed Ahmed and Shakeel Ahmad, both 51, were jailed for seven years in 2007 for their part in a £12.6m VAT fraud that saw 21 individuals receive prison sentences totalling 74 years.
The defendants were joi

Joseph Logue

Tax crook who swindled dying man jailed

A tax agent who abused his position to steal from a dying man has been jailed for 3 years for 9 months. Joseph Logue, from Northampton, made Self Assessment repayment claims for his clients but kept the money for himself.

James Burton

Tax stealing tiler sentenced

A tax stealing tiler has been sentenced for a £492,000 VAT fraud after ignoring a chance to come clean

Drury & the two seized Rolex watches with the poolside at Drury's main Spanish villa

VAT fraudster to cough up £1.2m or face longer in jail

A jailed fraudster who bought three Spanish villas after stealing from the taxpayer must pay £1.2 million back or face another seven years in jail. Graham Drury, 71, formerly of Strathalyn, Rossett, Wrexham, was jailed for five-and-a-half years in 2021 after submitting fraudulent VAT returns to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Twyllwr TAW i dalu £1.2m neu bydd yn wynebu rhagor o amser yn y carchar

Twyllwr TAW i dalu £1.2m neu bydd yn wynebu rhagor o amser yn y carchar

Mae’n rhaid i dwyllwr sydd wedi’i garcharu, a brynodd dair fila yn Sbaen ar ôl dwyn mwy na £1.2 miliwn oddi ar drethdalwyr, dalu’r arian yn ôl neu bydd yn wynebu saith mlynedd arall yn y carchar.
Cafodd Graham Drury, 71 oed, gynt o Strathalyn, Yr Orsedd, Wrecsam, ei garcharu am bum mlynedd a hanner yn 2021 ar ôl cyflwyno Ffurflenni TAW twyllodrus i Gyllid a Thollau EF (CThEF).
Mewn gwrandaw

Ilona Leszczynska and Radoslaw Dobron

Beer smugglers jailed for seven years

Two fraudsters who spearheaded a Polish beer smuggling scam have been jailed for a total of seven years. Radoslaw Dobron, 36, and Ilona Leszczynska, 37, smuggled 122 lorry loads of non UK-duty paid beer via a North London based alcohol wholesaler. The beer, worth more than £3.1 million in evaded duty, was smuggled to Top Seller Ltd by abusing a commercial importers scheme.

Illegal cigarettes seized at Belfast Port

10.8 million cigarettes seized at Belfast port

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is investigating after 10.8 million illegal cigarettes were seized at Belfast Port. The cigarettes, worth around £5.3million in unpaid taxes, were seized by HMRC working alongside Border Force, on 20 June, 2023. The cigarettes were found packed in cardboard boxes inside a container that had been scanned by Border Force. No arrests have been made.

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HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is the UK’s tax authority

HMRC is responsible for making sure that the money is available to fund the UK’s public services and for helping families and individuals with targeted financial support.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)

100 Parliament St
SW1A 2BQ London