Thread: Crooks behind Britain's biggest tax fraud

Crooks behind Britain's biggest tax fraud given 10 MORE years in prison for failing to pay back £184 million

Two crime lords behind Britain's biggest tax fraud have been jailed for an additional 10 years each after failing to pay back £184.6 million.
Syed Ahmed, 37, and Shakeel Ahmad, 38, were part of a 21-strong gang who brought luxury houses and sports cars with the proceeds of a £37.5 million pound VAT sting.
They were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in 2007 for their part in the "missing trader" VAT con, in which they cheated the system through the import and export of computer parts.







Jail extension: Shakeel Ahmad (left) and Syed Ahmed were both had their jail terms extended by 10 years because they failed to pay back £186 million

A judge ordered them to re-pay crime profits of £92.3 million each by September but the pair missed the deadline and on Thursday, they were told they must serve an additional ten years behind bars, HM Revenue and Customs said.
The £184.6 million is the largest ever confiscation order issued by the UK courts. It was made in July.

Richard Meadows, assistant director of criminal investigations for HMRC, said:

"This will send the strongest message yet to criminals that they cannot hide, even in prison, from our actions to reclaim their criminal profits.

Smart: The fraudsters owned this £1.5million house in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire


"We are determined that this money will be restored to the nation's finances in what is the largest confiscation order ever secured in the UK.
"Their prison sentences now total 34 years and they will still have to re-pay the outstanding confiscation order."
Ahmad, from Middlesex, and Ahmed, from Slough, Berkshire led the complex VAT scam over a number of years.

Luxury: The mob also owned a £4.5million apartment in Knightsbridge, West London

They used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, buying multi-million pound properties in and around London, alongside flashy cars including a Ferrari.
The confiscation order was based on assets bought and owned by the mob, including two blocks of flats in Dubai worth £80million called the Royal Oceanic Tower and the Yacht Bay Tower.
They also owned a £4.5million luxury apartment in Knightsbridge, West London, a £2million Harrow home, a £1.5million place in Iver Heath, Bucks, and a £500,000 riverside flat in Battersea, South London.






The Yacht Bay Tower (left) and the Royal Oceanic Tower in Dubai, worth £80 million, were among the assets bought and owned by the gang

The crooked gang owned high-powered cars, including a Ferrari 360 Modena convertible and a Mercedes 500CL.
Ahmed and Ahmad were behind MST Associates (UK) Ltd, in Uxbridge, West London, and ran a "missing trader" VAT fraud.
The firm imported computer processing units from Europe - mostly Ireland - VAT free.
They would then be sold on more cheaply, but with VAT added, through a chain of companies involved in the plot and sham invoices would be issued.

Once the goods had been sold on a number of times, they would be exported back to the EU.
The exporter would then claim a VAT credit from Revenue and Customs for the tax paid on the purchase of the goods.


Read more: Crooks behind Britain's biggest tax fraud given 10 MORE years in prison for failing to pay back £184 million | Mail Online

brilliant....apart from getting caught!

And the investing it in property which you cannot not liquidate for anything like what the court thinks its worth, so you end up still loosing the money and getting the extra 10 years. Now they can look forward to being released just before the 60th birthdays; just in time to retire to Pattaya and become pillars of the community.

Given the chaos these and the other missing trader fraudsters have caused to the government and more importantly businesses who now how to comply with new rules to combat the fraud, I've got no sympathy for them.

Ditto about the sympathy, though I can't see how you figured they'll be released in another 20 years. If they were not given the extra 10 years apiece they would be eligible for release about now, having already served 3 years of their 7-year sentence. Don't forget a life sentence is around 8-9 years before most are released on license.

Their extra 10 years will have them raise their middle finger in 2013-2014, while they're still young enough to have lotsa fun. In fact it probably won't even get that far because the closer they come to eligibility the more likely the authorities will reduce their demands by as much as 90% in exchange for early release, with the pragmatic reasoning that something is better than an embarrassing nothing.

^ You are quite right, I fell for the spin. they got a total of 37 years between them. I read it that they got 37 each, I should be more careful.

I believe that depending of the length of the sentience they have to serve 50% or 66% of the sentence before they can apply for parol. Life sentences are under a different set of rules.

Clever. Presumably clever enough to have plenty more out of plod's reach.

based on assets bought and owned by the mob, including two blocks of flats in Dubai worth £80million

So what's the story with property bought in Dubai with the proceeds of crime as judged by a British court?

They get to keepy?

Also the third of a tonne of gold bullion that the article fails to mention.

These wealthy guys should have been given life imprisonment merely for an appalling lack of taste in interior design.

I think you'll find that HMRC are the biggest tax crooks in the UK..

Originally Posted by hazz

^ You are quite right, I fell for the spin. they got a total of 37 years between them. I read it that they got 37 each, I should be more careful.

I believe that depending of the length of the sentience they have to serve 50% or 66% of the sentence before they can apply for parol. Life sentences are under a different set of rules.

I believe in a situation such as this, and not as a sweeping law but on the merits of each individual case, that provision should be installed to sentence the perps to prison for the rest of their natural life with no chance of parole, unless the amount known to have been stolen is repaid. Then they can live on whatever they nicked that the authorities cannot prove they stole, much like a busted burglar or mugger that gets done only for their known offenses.

In other words, give them the choice of being very wealthy in jail or less wealthy outside. If they do make restitution, then they can enjoy their normal sentence with parole.

Originally Posted by lysander

I think you'll find that HMRC are the biggest tax crooks in the UK..

They're legal, but if you feel so strongly then campaign to sue them and hope they don't crawl up your ass with a microscope.