We are pleased to have secured a positive outcome for our client, who received a suspended sentence for his role in a complex £22 million VAT fraud.
The case concerned a factually complex conspiracy to defraud the public revenue over a five-year period, with the total loss to HMRC alleged to be approximately £22 million. The operation was described as a thoroughly systematic and professionally run criminal enterprise, centred on the construction, logistics and electrical industries. It was the subject of a complex investigation by HMRC and the police involving more than 40 defendants, and it remained undetected for years due to an ever-changing web of companies through which workers’ wages were paid via fraudulent payroll companies, with tax sums withheld rather than passed on to the Revenue.
The case lasted a number of years with guilty pleas being negotiated on our clients behalf to money laundering and participating in the activities of an organised crime group, our client received a suspended sentence, thereby avoiding immediate custody. This outcome reflected the detailed mitigation advanced on his behalf, with the Judge acknowledging his strong prospects of rehabilitation and concluding that the sentence could properly be suspended.
Senior Partner Mark Bowen led the defence team, assisted by Associate Alice Dyer and Trainee Solicitor Caitlin Albert. Daniel Frier of Mountford Chambers was instructed as Counsel