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Two members of tax fraud gang ordered to repay £92m each

Two members of a tax fraud gang have been ordered to repay a record £92.3 million each in the biggest-ever confiscation order secured by HM Revenue and Customs.

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by Alex Steger on Jul 06, 2010 at 15:57

Two members of tax fraud gang ordered to repay £92m each

Two members of a tax fraud gang have been ordered to repay a record £92.3 million each in the biggest-ever confiscation order secured by HM Revenue and Customs.

Syed Mubarak Ahmed and Shakeel Ahmad are currently serving jail terms. The repayment order is the culmination of an investigation that began in April 2002 into fraud committed by a 21-strong gang that stole £37.5 million in a ‘missing trader’ VAT scam.

Ahmed and Ahmad have two months to repay the money or they face a further ten years in jail.

The scam involved the manipulation of the VAT system through the import and export of computer processing units. The gang used highly complex chains of VAT-registered companies in the UK and abroad.

The final defendant of the 21-strong crime gang was sentenced last month and. Members of the gang have been sentenced for a combined 74 years after seven trials and retrials.

Richard Meadows, assistant director of criminal investigation for HMRC, said the confiscation order was the largest ever secured by HMRC and came at the end of a complicated investigation.

‘This is the largest ever confiscation order secured by Revenue and Customs at the end of one of our most complicated investigations. I believe it to be one of the largest confiscation orders in the UK to date,’ he said. ‘The gang stole £37.5m in a VAT tax fraud using the cash to invest in luxury property in the UK and abroad.’

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14 comments so far. Why not have your say?

Very very well dcone to all concerned.

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Forgive me if this is seen as a silly question by some, yet how does £37.5m convert into £92.3m?

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If you were told to repay even £9.23m (let alone £93.2m) or stay in jail - all paid for - which would you choose?

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Bdubs, it depends on who my friends and family are. Stay inside 7 years and come out with nothing, or pay back the tax man and come out today with nothing.

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This coincides with the news that courts have failed to collect over 1 billion in fines, mainly confiscation orders. There have also been several stories of fraudsters, particularly those having stolen very large sums, using half decent lawyers to prolong the legal process ad infinitum. Will the taxpayer see any of this money. Unlikely. Does crime pay. Most definitely

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To BH; because the HMRC have the power to order a confiscation of other assets up to 100% on top of the stolen VAT. These people are cheating all of us because this VAT money could have been used to fund health and welfare projects for deserving UK citizens. This enough to build at least one new school. They are scum and deserve to be deprived of assets.

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This has made me a big fan of HMRC now,

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To: ArianAdar: But they have been ordered to pay £92.3 million EACH!!!!

£184.6 million.

Is this based on the investment increase they made on the property they bought??

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The BBC website says:

Officers have retained high value assets including a luxury flat in London's up-market Knightsbridge area, worth £4.5m and two apartment tower blocks in Dubai worth £80m.

It also says they between them they have to pay the fine not each.... which is correct??

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L92 million or 10 years in prison, reduced to 6 years for good behaviour, comes to L15 million per year. Can I have the prison please?

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Please let me assure you that theft is harram under Shariah law, even when it is from infidels.

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I read it as 92m between them, but I think the headline here on citywire has been changed to 'each' since this morning.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/7873501/Crime-lords-hit-for-record-confiscation-order.html

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Some you win, some you lose ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7877218/Fake-French-identity-card-used-to-fraudulently-claim-90000-in-benefits.html

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michael coxson

Jul 07, 2010 at 19:17

They should have got 100 years , with the option of reducing this term by one million £ per year . dangling a few virgins outside their cell bars might even help the judicial process.

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