Criminal

Carousel fraud attracts heaviest sentence

Expert Witness crime story Ravjani pictureConfiscation proceedings are underway to recover assets following the successful prosecution of a 15-strong criminal gang who attempted to defraud in excess of £176m in VAT through complex mobile phone trading scams – a so-called 'carousel fraud'. The ring leader, Dilawar Ravjani, was jailed for 17 years: the longest sentence ever given to an individual in the UK for this type of fraud.

The gang claimed to have sold four million mobile phones worth £1.7bn. In many cases the phones did not exist and the fraud came to light when they claimed to have sold thousands which were of models not then available in the UK. Over 5,700 fake business transactions were created, including many by vans crossing and re-crossing the Channel and amassing paperwork.

Chris Martin, HMRC's assistant director of criminal investigation, said in a statement: "Fraud on this scale causes immense damage to the tax revenues of the UK and the European Union. This was a complex and well-organised fraud which made a huge profit for the gang at the expense of UK taxpayers, but the dedication and techniques used by HMRC officers in this investigation resulted in the successful prosecution and convictions of these criminals. We will now seek to recover the proceeds of this crime."

During the arrests, officers seized around £170,000 in cash, including £47,000 which was found in carrier bags in the boot of a luxury car owned by one of those involved.

His Honour Judge Birts QC said of the work of the investigating officers: "I had the opportunity of observing the result of this work at close quarters for very many months and I've been very impressed, not only by integrity for the work – which I would expect – but also by the diligence and fairness shown during the process and dedication of the team."

The prosecution against Ravjani was brought for 'Conspiracy to Cheat the Public Revenue', a common law offence, rather than any statutory offences. The common law offence carries no maximum sentence.

According to financial accounting expert David Winch of expert witness service provider Accounting Evidence: "The offence of 'Conspiracy to Cheat the Public Revenue' is a common law offence in England and Wales with a history going back hundreds of years. The common law offence of 'Cheat' had applied more widely but was abolished by s32(1)(a) Theft Act 1968 except in relation to the public revenue. The logic of that abolition was that the statutory offences set out in the Theft Act 1968 replaced the old common law."

On the other hand, had Ravjani been charged with VAT fraud, says David Winch, he would have been subject to a maximum sentence of seven years: less than some of his co-conspirators who were considered less culpable.

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