An Angus man who was part of an 18-strong crime gang that stole £20 million in a mobile phone VAT fraud has been told to repay half-a-million pounds within a month or face a further five years in jail.
Albert Amritanand, 69, from Forfar, is the ninth gang member to receive a confiscation order since the gang was jailed for a total of 135 years, after a long and complex criminal investigation by HMRC, called Operation Vaulter.
Those previously jailed are from Cheshire, East Sussex, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Wales, Staffordshire, Scotland and Spain.
Kevin Newe, Assistant Director, Criminal Investigation, HMRC, said: “Confiscation orders totalling £2.3 million have already been made in this case, and further proceedings are ongoing.
“We are determined that crime gangs such as this one, should be prosecuted and then made to repay their criminal gain.”
The investigation led to four criminal trials between 2012 and 2014.
The gang claimed to be trading in the importation and sale of mobile phones, but investigators showed that this complex web of transactions was a sham and in some cases the mobile phones didn’t exist the gang had simply fabricated their business in order to submit VAT repayment claims.
See Thursday’s Courier for more on this story.